During 2025, ES VICIS Foundation implemented a comprehensive strengthening process with the CONFEMAG Textile Workers’ Cooperative in Maggiolo, Santa Fe Province, Argentina. Through the strategic channeling of impact funds, combined with targeted training and organizational support, the cooperative strengthened its structure, increased local employment, and sustainably improved its productive capacity.
The Foundation supported CONFEMAG through an integrated approach that combined productive investment, business model strengthening, and organizational development. As a result, four new jobs were created, and the foundations were laid to increase productivity and members’ returns over the medium term.
A key milestone of the process was the USD 10,000 impact investment provided by the Ameropa Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization promoting long-term humanitarian, educational, and agricultural initiatives in vulnerable communities, and a supporter of ES VICIS programs in Argentina since 2025. These funds were strategically allocated to the acquisition of essential machinery: two bartack machines, one overlock machine, one button machine, and one steam iron.
This targeted investment removed critical production bottlenecks, enabling the cooperative to expand capacity, optimize workflows, and improve efficiency in the production of workwear.
In parallel, CONFEMAG participated in My Business ROOTED in My Village, an ES VICIS program focused on strengthening local enterprises. The cooperative completed an intensive training process on business models and received personalized one-on-one mentoring to refine its growth strategy, value proposition, and economic sustainability.
Recognizing the positive impact of this integrated process, the Alimentaris Foundation supported an extension of specialized mentoring. This additional phase deepened the impact of the productive investment by addressing key organizational dimensions, including a workplace climate survey and facilitated working sessions on internal communication, coexistence, and collective planning.
Technical assistance was provided by sector specialists, supporting the cooperative in implementing concrete management tools such as cost and pricing models, monthly production planning, and indicator dashboards to monitor production volumes, client portfolios, financial returns, and the valuation of working hours.
The process concluded with an in-person workshop where productive advances, machinery integration, and the results of the workplace climate survey were collectively reviewed, and future development priorities were defined.
Thanks to this comprehensive strengthening and effective channeling of impact capital, CONFEMAG is now positioned to further increase its productive capacity, improve the profitability of cooperative work, and project the creation of an additional three to four quality jobs in the village. For 2026, members are expected to see a 40–50% increase in returns, supported by sustained production and improved economic resilience.
A Cooperative with History and a Future
CONFEMAG is a cooperative with more than 50 years of experience in the production of workwear in Maggiolo, Santa Fe Province, Argentina. It is composed of 24 members—predominantly women heads of household—who generate local employment in a largely agricultural region, strengthening the village’s productive and social fabric.
