Ergon and Summa create unique pilot

In the Brainport region, hard work is being done to create an inclusive labor market. Ergon and Summa are pragmatically and successfully working together on this path to employment. Ergon acts as a work development company that helps people with support needs grow towards suitable work. Summa acts as an educational institution with a vision of people-centered education and employership. Through a joint pilot, job seekers benefit even more from the collaboration: a work-study program with a job guarantee.

With a shared mission in facilitating people's growth, Ergon and Summa have enjoyed working together for many years. Ergon manager Raymond van de Sande: “Summa advises us on the development and training of people. With their knowledge and our own expertise, we jointly create effective work-learning trajectories in which people with support needs are prepared for a paid job with the best possible chance of success. Conversely, we help Summa with selecting and matching suitable workers from our work-learning trajectories.”

“We believe it is important to contribute to society and therefore consciously include people with support needs in our teams,” says Summa’s Financial/Facilities Director Fred Wichard.

“These people are made job-ready by Ergon through a work-study program and then come to us to gain work experience. We guide them and offer them a permanent contract upon good performance. In doing so, they truly become part of Summa. That makes them proud. Currently, through this collaboration with Ergon, we already have 23 employees working in a variety of roles. From teaching assistant and warehouse worker to groundskeeper and hospitality staff.”

A good example of valuable collaboration in inclusive employment is the pilot for cleaners that Ergon and Summa launched in late 2025. Fred: “From within our organization, I received increasing requests to focus on daytime cleaning for our buildings, in addition to the evening cleaning handled by our facilities partner. This was no easy task, as cleaners are scarce, especially during the school hours in which we operate. Ergon Facilitair collaborated with us on this and developed a unique work-study program that trains and selects potential cleaners based on our needs and the employee's capabilities.”

Raymond is proud of the collaboration and sees that more and more organizations in this tight labor market want to think in terms of opportunities. “Ergon helps employers recruit smarter and job seekers apply smarter. The day cleaners from the pilot are a good example of this. Here, we offer opportunities to mostly single parents on benefits who would like to work but are only available when their children are at school. Those conditions do not suit every organization, but they are actually an ideal match with Summa.”

The work-study program for cleaners is a success: through Ergon, the first six cleaners have now been trained and are employed by Summa. During the day, these new Summa employees keep the auditoriums and theory classrooms clean at two educational locations. The school's practical rooms are taken care of by the cleaners from the facilities partner. Fred: “In this way, we are working towards a good balance between hired and in-house cleaning professionals. We also want to impart something to our students with this: everyone deserves a chance at meaningful work and to be part of our society.”

Source: Frits Magazine 2026