The Dyeing Workshop of Taiping Watersource Cultural and Educational Foundation is located on County Highway 136 which has many hilly and mountainous terrains in southeast Taichung. Since the highway has steep curves and slopes, it attracts many motorcyclists for riding practice. In addition, signboards sell loquats, lychees, and bananas everywhere on the road, announcing to outsiders that these are the major crops here. In between, the loquats are the most famous. Therefore, the Taiping Loquat Festival has been held in March and April every year for more than 20 years. However, in recent years, Taiping has launched a world-renowned "Taiping Blue" brand.

In 2008, the Foundation applied for Multi-Employment Promotion Program (MEPP) subsidies from the Ministry of Labor under the "Blue Fragrance Garden Project." The project was planned to develop Hakka Blue Dyeing as a community industry using local blue grass as a raw material to design and produce blue dyeing products. After more than a decade of hard work and a successful business model, the Foundation has continuously won the National Talent Development Awards twice, the TTQS Training Quality Award in Gold Medal in five times, and has successfully promoted the brand "Taiping Blue."

Competitions Abroad and Becoming More Courageous
In particular, the Foundation with a business model is a successful transformational case after the end of the Multi-Employment Promotion Program (MEPP). During the execution period, there are two important turning points.

"Our foundation is a senior and mid-aged, rural, and economic-type multi-employment organization that learned blue dyeing techniques from scratch. I am embarrassed that we had no selling point or channels, so we can only teach the visitors some simple DIY with very limited income." Mr. Yeh Chin-yu, the chairman of the Foundation, recalled the early days of the business. He worked hard to market the Foundation and participated in the selection of the Jinxu Award, which the Council of Labor Affairs hosted for excellent multi-employment organizations in 2010, but the Foundation was eliminated in the preliminary round of the local auditions.

At that time, Mr. Yeh was disheartened and thought that if the business still had no improvement in marketing and promotion, he planned to end this part of the business in the following year (2011). However, in 2011, he still received a call from the Taichung-Changhua-Nantou Regional Branch of the Workforce Development Agency, the Ministry of Labor, inviting him to participate in the competition. After a few rejections, Mr. Yeh couldn't reject the delightful invitation from the administrator of the program, so he participated with a presentation. Unexpectedly, he went through all the competition, from the region to the whole country, and won the first prize of the 2011 Jinxu Award for marketing promotion. This prize changed his mind: "We can't let down the Jinxu Award of the MEPP and have to continue!" Therefore, the Foundation renewed hope for the future, and that was the first turning point.

After that, the Foundation kept participating in the selection of the competition abroad by the Ministry of Culture for more experience. Mr. Yeh's team participated in 20-30 competitions abroad during the three years; however, there are also blue dyeing products in Japan, Thailand, China, and even Europe. So, all the products failed the competition because they had "no particular features."

Refined Innovative Design to Show the Brand Value
After the painful experience, Mr. Yeh realized that "it is useless to do more marketing if the products have no particular features." He must upgrade the products' design and find a way to cross the threshold. Therefore, he invited a blue dyeing master, Ms. Tang Wen-chun, to teach the staff team blue dyeing techniques in 2014, and Dr. Lin Qing-mei from Asia University, Department of Fashion Design, to direct the quality of their blue dyeing products. In 2015, the team continued to participate in the "International Innovative Crafts Fair 2015" at the Craft Center of the Ministry of Culture. Mr. Yeh recalled that "due to the team having failed so many times, they didn't have any confidence and didn't think they could be selected." Unexpectedly, with the mood of no expectation and no hurt, the team had been selected to participate in the exhibition abroad for the first time! The international audiences were amazed by the innovative and artistically valuable blue-dyed products such as table mats, table flags, and hanging curtains. This was the second turning point for the Foundation.

After that, the Foundation gained more confidence in its products and kept designing new ones. The team improved the products' packaging and kept participating in international exhibitions. In 2016, after the blue dyeing workshop was prepared with dyeing techniques and design ability, it no longer relied on the subsidies of MEPP by the Ministry of Labor and started self-sufficiency. The next is directly facing the markets' challenges, and how to open sales channels is a big challenge. Mr. Yeh said pragmatically, "I opened the door to make money; otherwise, I can't support my staff." So, the team visited door-to-door through big and small channels. They started from small markets to major department stores and now have counters, including Chungyo Department Store, Eslite Spectrum Songyan Store, Far Eastern SOGO Taipei Fuxing Store, Lih-Pao Hi Mall, Hayashi Department Store, etc. Speaking of this, Mr. Yeh showed the message on his cell phone and happily said, "Look, Hayashi Department Store is asking me to prioritize our products for them with a message."

Do Not Give Up; The Market Is Wide Open
The Foundation has 20 physical locations and 15 online channels. Taiping Blue's business moves up and then rehires the old staff who had been trained by the MEPP. In the two years after 2021, the product order increased five times more! Before Taiping Blue became famous, it went through a tough time of entrepreneurship, which was not so smooth at the beginning. Mr. Yeh said emotionally that it was hard to gain a sales channel in the beginning, even to join a small market in front of Chungyo Department Store. But four years later, the products are no longer the same. Now Chungyo Department Store gives Taiping Blue's products the highest standard by holding a special counter for one and a half months.

Along the way, the Foundation has not only improved the content of the craft industry but also indirectly promoted community prosperity and employment opportunities through the training program for local craftsmen. In addition, the Foundation has created its own brand, which represents the unique Hakka blue dye of Taiping Tou-Bian-Keng, Taichung, and has expanded domestic and international markets, proving the benefits of talent development. With today's achievement, Mr. Yeh Chin-yu smiles and encourages the future generations, "Those who work will also succeed as he did." Indeed, their accomplishments are just like the multi-layered and beautiful texture of Taiping Blue Dyeing, which must be quenched over time before they slowly form the shape.

Watersource Cultural and Educational Foundation Official Website

(Multi-Employment Faces) Progress in Teaching and Learning: Finding Fulfillment from Research and Development   Designer Ms. Jiang Jie-yu joined the Taiping Blue working team because the Foundation implemented the Empowering Employment Program (EEP) and became permanent staff in 2015. She is mainly responsible for brand image, product packaging, and product development. Taiping Blue team must design 3-5 new products each year, and it takes at least one year from product research to mass production, followed by another 2-3 years of adjustment and modifications, she expressed. With nearly 10 years of working experience, designing the new product from zero to production made her senses full of achievement. In addition, the workshop offers more than a dozen experiential courses every month. The planning of teaching materials and the networking and learning with the students keep her improving. Compared to the independent working model of her prior design company, working at the Foundation gives her more opportunities to interact with elders and increase her interpersonal interaction.

 

▲The Director of Watersource Cultural and Educational Foundation, Mr. Yeh Chin-yu, takes his team to be more and more courageous through failures and finally success. (Photo by Lin Ying-cheng)

▲After ending the MEPP, the Foundation continues to provide a friendly working environment for the local youth and senior and mid-aged people. (Photo by Lin Ying-cheng)

▲"Taiping Blue" (the brand of the Foundation) has raised the total of product design, qualities, and brand marketing to stand on the international stage. (Photos provided by the Foundation)

▲The Foundation's staff showed their beautiful crafts. (Photos provided by the Foundation)

▲The Foundation is a regular award winner. It won the Outstanding Initiatives Gold Award in Labor Affairs from the WDA and the Yunus Prize in the Social Enterprise Category. (Photo by Lin Ying-cheng)
 

Case Story: Multi-Employment Promotion and Empowering Employment Program
Interviewee: Watersource Cultural and Educational Foundation

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Please attribute this article to “Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor.”