Escaping Alcatraz... with the help of a little rum

Radio 4 had an interesting subject for its In Business programme last week � the Santa Teresa Rum Company in Venezuela. The company operates in Aragua, an area blighted by high levels of gang-related violent crime and unemployment, and has taken an enlightened approach to tackling these social problems. Its initiative began in 2000, when a local gang attacked a staff member at the factory. Once arrested, the company offered the two men involved 3 months� unpaid work as an alternative a jail sentence. The whole gang arrived the next day to start work. Thus began Project Alcatraz, which aims to help gang members �free� themselves from a bleak future by offering them work experience and training that will re-integrate them into society. The project has catered for five gangs to date, which have effectively been �disarmed�, and seen the local incidence of crime fall by 40 per cent.

This is a nice example of community investment that has grown in the �right� way � not a programme decided on in boardrooms but, rather, a response to issues that were relevant to the business on the ground. It recognises that business doesn�t operate in a vacuum, but is heavily affected by the environment around it. It also gives us an unusual perspective on the idea of carrying out community investment to gain a �licence to operate� � usually associated with multi-national mining and oil companies. In this case, however, playing an important social function has helped Santa Teresa to win support and legitimacy in a political environment that is otherwise prone to hostility towards business.