BLIND and visually impaired craftworkers are to display their furniture and handcrafted household items at the Social Enterprise Summit next January.

Superior Crafts and More, a furniture and craftwork business operated by blind and visually impaired individuals, will make its debut to the public with the help of the Jamaica National Building Society Foundation and USAID, under the Social Enterprise Boost Initiative (SEBI).

SEBI is a business development and technical capacity-building platform focused on improving existing and potential enterprises that are committed to the development and sustainability of the social and economic well-being of communities, groups and individuals.

Since 2012, a total of 10 social enterprises, including Caribbean Community for Retired Persons (CCRP), Mustard Seed Communities, Dress for Success, Network of Women for Food Security, and Superior Crafts and More have benefited from US$1 million ($113 million) worth of technical and business development support under the programme.

The first phase of the programme is expected to come to an end by December 2015. In the meantime, the JN Foundation is looking at other ways to continue its support of the sector.

“We have been making a little money to support our families since the intervention of SEBI,” Superior Crafts and More Manager Dyntie Davis stated during this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange at the newspaper’s Beechwood Avenue headquarters.

Superior Crafts and More currently restores steel bent chairs, rocking chairs, metal verandah chairs, hampers, straw hats and craft display items. The items are redesigned using cane, wicker and cord, woven to form fabric-like materials.

With the help of SEBI, Superior Crafts and More is now eyeing the production of an essential range of items to include laundry and waste-paper baskets, and various types of storage baskets.

“On average, it takes two weeks to manufacture a planter’s chair because of the intricate detailing, but a metal chair would take us one day to produce,” employee Maxine McIntosh told the Business Observer.

“It is challenging because sometimes the cane gets busted near the end and then we have to start all over again,” she added.

The staff of 16 employees are rewarded with one-third of the sale price of an item for each job produced.

So far, Superior Crafts and More has inked a deal with Altamont Court Hotel to supply it with cosmetics baskets. The company has also supplied craft items to Sandals Resorts International and Strawberry Hill over the years.

Blind and visually impaired persons looking to start a career in craftsmanship are usually trained by the company for a six-month period before employment. What’s more, with the help of SEBI, Superior Crafts and More is also considering a partnership with the HEART Trust/NTA in computer literacy and craftsmanship training for blind and visually impaired students.

“We have a programme on a computer donated by SEBI called Jaws for the blind people,” Davis stated. “If you are typing on the computer, every key you touch, the computer will speak to you to let you know what you are doing.”

Project manager of Social Enterprise Boost Initiative, Jennifer Sharrier, told the Monday Exchange that the enterprises under the programme are now in the implementation stage.

“We have helped the enterprises develop business plans and understand how to manage a business, which has not only increased the likelihood of each company’s success, but has also motivated the individuals,” she said.