Success is in the Bag for Disability Enterprise

A not for profit that employs people with physical and intellectual disabilities in the Northern Territory has been chosen as the official supplier of the 2017 World Chambers Congress bag.

Helping People Achieve (HPA), which last year became the first not for profit in Australia to be named a state Telstra Business of the Year, specialises in the manufacturing of Indigenous printed materials, in addition to developing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

ICC World Chambers Federation and Sydney Business Chamber announced HPA would supply the bags to be given to all attending delegates throughout the three-day global event, which will be held in Sydney in September.

HPA CEO Tony Burns told Pro Bono News it was honour and a “feather in everyone’s cap at HPA” that they had been asked to be a supplier for such a major global event.

“It is a pretty incredible opportunity for HPA to be on an international stage and be able to showcase the amazing products we make to 1,100 CEOs and World Chambers,” Burns said.

“Our whole purpose is to inspire and empower every single day.

“It is an example, on top of last year winning the Telstra Business award, of how we are breaking through and showing we can compete with other businesses.”

The Darwin charity, which was founded in 1963 by the late Harold Garner, currently employs 68 people with intellectual and physical disabilities across two worksites, as well as supporting 40 people to live independently within the community.

It offers a technically advanced series of disability enterprises that produce products, support and relevant training.

The Ausdesigns enterprise, which falls under the umbrella of HPA, has 14 exclusive prints which each showcase a different part of NT.

Chamber of Commerce NT president Greg Ireland said the decision by the congress organising committee to go with the HPA product ahead of anything else in Australia was a high accolade.

“The Congress organising committee want delegates to have a quality bag for their congress materials that is both reflective of Australia and a memento that could be used long into the future,” Ireland said.

Burns said it was a “massive” achievement for the team that the product has been recognised.

He said the last few years had seen HPA reinvent its brand and purpose and there had been an increase in the awareness and profile of HPA’s resourcing of the disability sector.

“For us to be on a world stage and given the opportunity to showcase our products and what we do is something that we are very proud of,” he said.

“The strength of HPA is our focus on ‘ability and possibility’ not ‘disability’ and our people reflect that.

“We want to remind any businessness out there that if you dream big enough anything is possible.”