Editorial: Cook provides jobs—and an example

The business world is full of secrets. From the 11 herbs and spices in KFC’s fried chicken recipe to the proprietary research that goes into life-saving medical devices, most discoveries are kept under wraps for competitive reasons.

But sometimes it makes sense to share your playbook. That’s exactly what Bloomington-based medical-device manufacturer Cook Medical is offering to do with the unique partnership it has formed to help lift the fortunes of a struggling northeast-side neighborhood.

Cook announced last month that it is investing $7 million in a $15 million medical-device manufacturing facility at East 38th Street and Sheridan Avenue. The plant will be a supplier for Cook, which is partnering with Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana, The Indianapolis Foundation and the United Northeast Community Development Corp. to build the facility and hire 100 employees.

The foundation will own the building and employees will work for Goodwill, which will provide wraparound services—from credit counseling to help with housing and transportation. Cook will offer a free program allowing employees to pursue a high school diploma or bachelor’s or master’s degrees.

The facility, which is expected to open in late 2021, will bring job opportunities to a neighborhood that is burdened with some of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the state and where the population is 86% people of color. The plant won’t require that its employees live in the surrounding neighborhood, but that is the goal.

Making a positive difference in a struggling urban neighborhood is exactly what Cook set out to do shortly after it began considering how to expand its manufacturing capacity about four months ago. As Pete Yonkman, president of Cook Medical, said in a recent IBJ Podcast, Cook’s operations in Bloomington, Indianapolis, West Lafayette and three foreign countries are all in small communities or employ a predominantly white workforce. Inspired by the protests against racial inequality this summer, the Cook team began looking for a way to diversify and realized the company could help itself while helping others.

It found the opportunity on the northeast side, where it has been intentional about forging partnerships that will help neighborhood residents, not disrupt and displace them. Cook formulated its plan for the neighborhood by working closely with the United Northeast CDC and area residents to learn what they need and to build on grassroots efforts already in place. The refreshing thing, Yonkman said, is the ease with which the plans came together. Lining up partners and building in a neighborhood was just as easy as expanding in an office park, he said.

The future of economically depressed city neighborhoods and rural areas might very well depend on companies like Cook deciding to get creative in tackling problems we often expect government or someone else to solve.

We applaud Cook’s initiative—and its willingness to share its innovative model with any company that would consider following the Cook example. This is a recipe that’s too good to keep under wraps.•

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