Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02AMMAN2624
2002-05-23 05:58:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

NOMINATION FOR AWARD FOR CORPORATE EXCELLENCE

Tags:  BEXP EINV ELAB ETRD JO 
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UNCLAS AMMAN 002624

SIPDIS

FOR EB/CBA NSMITH-NISSLEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP EINV ELAB ETRD JO
SUBJECT: NOMINATION FOR AWARD FOR CORPORATE EXCELLENCE

REF: STATE 73362

CCKM Apparel Manufacturing (Jordan) LTD. has been a leader in
promoting worker rights and workplace standards in Jordan's
fastest-growing industrial sector during a difficult time in
the Middle East. CCKM Jordan's good corporate citizenship
has drawn praise from factory workers, industrial park
managers, and U.S. retailers as a model for responsible
investment in a sector that is heavily impacted by labor
rights issues. Recognizing CCKM's leadership with the award
for corporate excellence will help expand their example of
good corporate citizenship throughout Jordan's economy, and
will highlight the potential for Arab-Israeli economic
cooperation.

CCKM Apparel Manufacturing (Jordan) LTD. is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of New York-based Cannon County Knitting Mills
(CCKM). CCKM first invested in Jordan in 2001, bringing $2.5
million dollars and over 350 new jobs into the local economy.
CCKM's decision to invest in Jordan represents in part a
desire by owner Marty Granoff to make a concrete contribution
to peace in the region by strengthening economic ties between
Jordan and Israel through the Qualifying Industrial Zones
(QIZ) initiative. The initiative, which gives tariff breaks
to companies that export goods with Jordanian and Israeli
content to the U.S., has produced an explosion of growth in
Jordan's garment manufacturing sector, creating thousands of
new jobs directly and tens of thousands indirectly. In the
process, it has created a constituency for peace in Jordanian
communities benefiting from new employment opportunities.
CCKM Jordan has taken the lead in ensuring that the
initiative develops in a sustainable and responsible fashion.

CCKM leads first and foremost by example, with a strong
commitment to workplace safety. Along with Jordanian Labor
Ministry officials, compliance inspectors from major U.S.
retailers keep a close eye on conditions in QIZ factories.
No factory has a better track record than CCKM. In fact, the
manager of the industrial park in which CCKM is located often
uses this factory as its showcase for prospective investors
and buyers' agents. This commitment to workplace safety is
matched by CCKM's commitment to its workers individually.
CCKM has instituted a nutritional supplement program for its
workers that provides them with morning energy drinks and
subsidizes 90% of their lunch bills to ensure good worker
health. CCKM also has a staunch commitment to training: the
company wrote off its first year of production, instead
devoting 100% of its time - and its salary budget - to
training programs that lasted up to six months per worker.

CCKM has also embraced the local community as it has
developed its workforce. CCKM holds regular graduation
ceremonies for workers who complete training programs, along
with factory tours for family members. These celebrations
have an enormous impact in traditional societies that are
suspicious of allowing women into the workplace. By
including families into the training process, CCKM has
dispelled fathers' misgivings about sending their daughters
into factory work, and has replaced those misgivings with
pride in seeing their daughters finish training courses that
give them marketable skills (for some, the only formal
education they've received). It has also given the community
a stake in the success of the business. Finally, CCKM is
training an all-Jordanian workforce. In an industry that
relies heavily on expatriate labor (expats make up 25-33% of
total sector employment),CCKM has pledged to the government
and the community that the jobs it creates will be for
Jordanians. The effectiveness of CCKM's approach is
measurable: while they pay less than the average QIZ
factory, they still have stacks of applications from new
workers and prospective transferees from other plants, all of
whom want to work in the family environment CCKM has created.

CCKM makes other fine contributions to the community - be it
educating the Jordanian government on the importance of
worker rights issues, or lobbying the Israeli government to
expand the benefits of the QIZ initiative into higher
value-added product lines in order to create more jobs and
further solidify bilateral commercial ties. But it is the
demonstrated commitment to the well-being of its workers that
makes CCKM the standard-bearer for responsible investment in
Jordan, and that is what makes CCKM a deserving recipient of
the award for corporate excellence.
Gnehm