Market assessment of the Chippewa Valley

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations are known for tackling social goals while for-profit organizations tackle financial goals. Today, these organizations are challenged to achieve both. A social enterprise, an organizational form that utilizes for-profit functions to achieve a social, is a way for organizations to face this challenge. This research assisted a nonprofit youth mentoring program during its shift towards becoming a social enterprise. A needs assessment was done to collect product and service suggestions from Chippewa Valley residents. The youth mentoring program will decide if they want to start a business based on the suggestions. The top four suggestions were restaurant services, health and lifestyle products and services, grocery related services, and recreation center related services. Recommendations were discussed between the researcher and the stakeholders based on the results and referencing steps for developing a social enterprise. Future research should be considered to narrow down the suggested product and services while taking steps to make the new social enterprise form sustainable.