Helping people help themselves — through job training and job placement programs conducted in cooperation with the business community — is the mission of Partnerships With Industry. And Partnerships With Industry accomplishes this mission with the information–processing power of FileMaker Pro, the award–winning database software application from FileMaker Inc. Based in San Diego, California, Partnerships With Industry is proud of what it does. "We're a non–profit social–service agency working to provide employment training and placement services for people with developmental disabilities who need support in achieving their vocational objectives," explains Peter Callstrom, the organization's Executive Director. " PWI makes vocational dreams come true. We've built lasting, mutually–beneficial partnerships with over 500 businesses, and we provide services to over a thousand individuals and families." And some of those firms are household names — PWI has helped people find work in such companies as QUALCOMM, Sea World, Callaway Golf, Mervyn's, Legoland and hundreds of other leading businesses.

Business Challenge

The PWI program includes services like individualized assessment, paid vocational training and assistance in finding permanent employment training on the job, ongoing support services, and even client social events. It's an ambitious agenda — and it requires a lot of careful recordkeeping and documentation. Outmoded paper–based data management methods were no match for the workplace demand.

And that's a challenge tailor-made for FileMaker Pro.

Successful Solution

"We've been using and developing our own applications in FileMaker Pro since 1990," Peter explains. "We had innumerable needs, since at that time nothing was computerized. We had tons of data to manage — and a database was clearly the answer. FileMaker Pro has been tremendously effective, allowing us to address every data management problem quickly, efficiently and creatively."

FileMaker Pro applications are running throughout PWI's five offices, serving every aspect of the organization's work, from job development to caseload flow, from fundraising to billing and invoicing, from processing new applicants to outcome management. "In the non–profit sector, good use of computerization is uncommon," Peter states. "But we've been able to overcome this challenge with the support of FileMaker. In our accreditation, our surveyors said we had the best database system they'd ever seen — and they'd surveyed hundreds of organizations around the country for over twenty–five years!"

In the non–profit sector, good use of computerization is uncommon. But we've been able to overcome this challenge with the support of FileMaker. In our accreditation, our surveyors said we had the best database system they'd ever seen — and they'd surveyed hundreds of organizations around the country for over twenty–five years!

— Peter Callstrom, Executive Director, Partnerships With Industry