We are Flexiforum - Team Participation and Koster Industrial Services

In the coming weeks, we will introduce you to some of Flexiforum's tenants. They talk about their experiences with this striking building and how they are building a new community together. This time speaking to Monique Veldhuizen from team Participation of the municipality of Kerkrade and Claudio di Leonardo, Koster Industrial Services.

Claudio di Leonardo, Koster Industrial Services

Koster Industrial Services has been a leader in industrial maintenance and mechanical engineering for over 25 years. They work for leading companies such as Chemelot, Sitech, EKK Eagle Simrax, Jindal Films Europe Kerkrade, Refresco and Koninklijke Mosa. There they are involved in solving overhaul failures and perform maintenance on production lines in the manufacturing environment.

Claudio points out that Koster took over an industrial car wash about three years ago. "Then you're talking about a car wash used by suppliers to Tenneco (the largest supplier of shock absorbers), to clean all the bolts, nuts, etc. to be delivered before delivery. This is important to guarantee quality. That specific car wash is now the link between Koster and the municipality of Kerkrade".

Monique Veldhuizen, Team Participation Municipality of Kerkrade

An important role of team Participation is to help people reduce their distance from the labor market. "We prepare them and get them ready for the regular labor market. We work together with companies and institutions for this purpose. Koster Industrial Services is a partner of ours. At Koster we look from a work situation primarily at what someone can do and what someone's qualities and employee skills are," said Monique.

"Koster's car wash is a good fit for our target audience. The work on such a car wash is easily accessible to our clients. Moreover, Claudio and his associate Ben are collaborative, easily approachable and straightforward. That mentality and approachability is worth its weight in gold for the target group we work with from team Participation."

Diversity of cooperation

Monique and Claudio got to know each other when Claudio moved into the Flexiforum with his company in 2020. The fact that both Koster and team Participation are housed in the Flexiforum makes the cooperation between the two organizations even easier. Monique: "I now regularly drop in on Claudio to ask how things are going, what he notices and what tips he has for us. This approachability makes the cooperation much more pleasant. We feel like partners, working together with our residents on the future towards job readiness.

"Especially for teaching basic principles that belong to an employee, a company like Koster is a great partner," Monique points out. "Koster is a commercial organization with a no-nonsense mentality. That is exactly what benefits someone, who needs to find his way back into the regular labor market, the most." Claudio is just as enthusiastic as Monique about the cooperation and the new working environment of the Flexiforum. "You have to imagine that we've been buffering for thirty years. The sandwich you eat while driving. That mentality so to speak. So when the Flexiforum came up as an option as a new accommodation, it was a bit of a switch. But the diversity of the different types of organizations housed in the Flexiforum really appealed to us. In addition to the cooperation with the Participation team of the municipality of Kerkrade, this has already led to connections with the Vakschool and Vista College. And super that we can also help people with a distance to work. That's heartening!"