The sight was a revelation to Gu, who found himself asking: "Why don't we build large, well-equipped workshops in villages to provide more jobs for villagers?"
About six months later, more than 160 workshops had been constructed in villages across the county. Each cost an average of 150,000 yuan to build, so the county finance department provided a subsidy of 100 yuan per sq m and the rest of the money was provided by public organizations and businesses.
The workshops are equipped with modern amenities, including water and electricity, and the operators－mainly businesspeople from large cities, introduced by local governments－can use them as soon as the formalities have been completed.
"We chose to build workshops in places that are easily accessible and convenient for the disabled and the elderly. Locations near kindergartens and schools are best because that makes it convenient for farmers who need to send their kids to school before going to work at the workshops," Gu said.
Daitang resident Li Aiyun is employed in the workshop in her village. She goes to work after sending her grandson to school.
"I can earn some money while taking care of my family," she said, adding that she can earn about 500 yuan a month.
According to Gu, workshop operators are required to obey a stipulation that at least 40 percent of the employees in every workshop are unskilled laborers living below the poverty line. The policy is facilitated by financial support from local governments, such as subsidized loans, to encourage the employment of the worst-off in society.
Training sessions
To provide the new employees with the requisite skills, the local government held 320 training sessions to teach them about industries such as furniture manufacture, hair products, clothing and electrical parts.
To date, 536 workshops have been built in Juancheng, and the initiative has prompted similar programs in other counties. More than 1,800 workshops have been built in villages across Heze, which administers Juancheng, providing jobs for 200,000 farmers, who are able to work near their homes. The move resulted in 57,000 rural laborers being lifted out of poverty last year.
Juancheng is known for hair products and furniture making. For the past three years, the output of the county's hair-product outfits has registered an annual increase of 25 percent.
"Hair-processing enterprises usually need huge workforces. This is the type of work that farmers can easily do and their availability means the employers' labor costs are reduced," Gu said.
According to Fan Jifu, manager of Hongjuyuan Craftwork Co, a hair-processing company, sales hit 220 million yuan last year, a rise of 30 percent from 2015.
He said the business operates nine village workshops and employs more than 700 poverty-stricken farmers at competitive rates: "The workshop model has reduced our labor costs by 20 percent."
So far, 225 companies have been attracted to four industrial parks built by the county to lure hair-processing enterprises.
Meanwhile, the county is encouraging young people who have moved away to return and set up their own businesses.
Li Zhichao, who worked in South China for six years, learned about the workshop model when he returned to Juancheng at the end of 2015 to prepare for the upcoming Spring Festival. Impressed by the initiative, he rented a workshop for 15,000 yuan a year and started manufacturing cables for cellphones.
The workshop was quickly inundated with orders, so Li rented three more. He now employs about 400 people, half of them living below the poverty line.
In addition to providing jobs, the workshops are also generating tax revenue for the local government. Statistics supplied by the Juancheng government show that tax revenue from the furniture making businesses rose by more than 73 percent last year, compared with 2015, while the tax take from hair-processing operations rose by nearly 41.5 percent.
"The workshops provide places where poor farmers can work close to home and make a better living with their own hands, rather than relying on benefits. This year, we will encourage some operators to register as businesses and expand their sales networks through e-commerce channels," Gu said.
