Pooling Resources Is an Investment in People and Business: Shared Solutions Drive Retention and Growth

Chelsea Miller

Associate Director

The Source, a nonprofit in Grand Rapids, Michigan, demonstrates how small- and midsize businesses can achieve strong outcomes for both their workforce and their bottom line by working together.

Eight family-owned manufacturers founded The Source in 2003, after realizing that their employees needed more support than they could provide on their own. “By recognizing they had similar problems in being able to help their people to support their lives outside of work,” The Source’s Executive Director, Alison Freas said, “they came together.” Workers were struggling with housing, childcare, transportation, and access to training — challenges too large for individual HR teams, often consisting of one to three people, to tackle alone. By pooling resources, these companies built a shared support system that has grown into a nationally recognized model for workforce development.

Today, The Source helps small businesses improve retention, reduce turnover costs, and strengthen competitiveness, while improving employee stability and career advancement. This has an impact not only on the 27 employers involved but also on the broader community it serves.

This case study demonstrates how The Source’s collaborative approach yields measurable business outcomes and provides a roadmap for replication in other communities.