Taebaek City, a former direct sales place for agricultural specialty products, created as a ‘senior job specialty town’

Taebaek City will remodel the old Taebaek agricultural specialty product direct sales center in the Sodo-dong area and create a town specializing in senior jobs by next year.

Taebaek City announced on the 5th that it will remodel the old Taebaek agricultural specialty product direct sales center in the Sodo-dong area and create a town specializing in senior jobs by next year.

An existing building with two floors above ground and a total floor area of ​​322 m2 will be used, and a total project cost of 980 million won will be invested.

The city has secured structural safety diagnosis and basic and detailed design costs through this year's first supplementary budget, and plans to proceed with remodeling construction next year after undergoing structural safety diagnosis and design in the second half of the year.

The first floor of the specialized town will feature the third public blanket laundromat and agricultural specialty products sales office, and the Taebaek City Welfare Foundation office will be located on the second floor.

The third public bedding laundromat, a core facility, is being prepared to respond to the increasing demand for services and increase accessibility by region.

When the 3rd store opens, 8 districts in the region, including the existing 1st and 2nd stores, will be divided into 3 areas.

The public blanket laundromat will be operated by elderly job seekers visiting vulnerable families, collecting blankets, washing them, and delivering them again.

In particular, it goes beyond simple laundry services and also performs a care function that detects crisis situations early by checking the user's well-being and living conditions during the visit.

It is a method that simultaneously solves job creation for the elderly and welfare for the vulnerable.

We also support the expansion of sales channels for local agricultural products by using agricultural specialty product sales outlets as new jobs for seniors.

The city plans to increase the effectiveness of linkages between businesses by gathering jobs for the elderly, care for the vulnerable, and sales of agricultural specialty products in one space.

The specialized town will be operated by an agency that carries out job creation projects for the elderly, and the plan is to consult with social contribution organizations such as Kangwon Land to secure operating costs.

An official from Taebaek City said, "It is a space that provides stable jobs to the elderly while also looking into the living inconveniences and gaps in care for the vulnerable," and added, "We will create a base where senior citizens' jobs and welfare are organically connected."