History
The aim of the ONCE's entry into the business world in 1986 was to boost the Organization's presence in economic activities through participation in and the management of profitable companies capable of generating employment and contributing, directly or indirectly, to the integration of the blind and visually impaired in an increasingly competitive and demanding labour market.
As opposed to the traditional trend towards fixed returns, the Spanish National Organization for the Blind directs its investments towards the establishment of a group of companies that is managed in accordance with the combined criteria of economic profitability and social gains.
Economic profitability translates into the maintenance of an adequate balance between maximum economic profit and minimum business risk, concentrating on long-term projects that enrich the Organization's economic base.
Social gains involves active intervention in the creation of alternative jobs to cupón sales, not only for the blind and visually impaired but also for other handicapped persons, thereby demonstrating to society that the disabled do indeed have numerous abilities that can and must be harnessed for the benefit of society as a whole, through their integration in the labour market.
With its initial investment effort, an important portfolio of shareholdings was built up, providing the ONCE with a relevant presence in the business world. In 1993 the Spanish National Organization for the Blind adopted the decision to create a specialized executive area, which gave rise to Corporación Empresarial ONCE, S.A. (CEOSA). Since its creation, the ONCE Business Corporation or CEOSA has developed and grown, consolidating all its corporate shareholdings in a single company, at the head of the Group, in addition to its physical integration in a Corporate Centre, which centralizes all financial, tax, legal, asset and human resource aspects, in addition to being responsible for co-ordination with other areas of the ONCE.
Now that we have entered the European Year for the Disabled (2003) and that the first year of the euro's circulation has been satisfactorily concluded, the ONCE Business Corporation stands out as a prime example of the new society in which social integration and success can go hand-in-hand in an increasingly open and competitive environment.