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NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
July 21, 2009
CANADIAN TEENS WIN 2009
NORTH AMERICAN
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT STUDENT COMPANY OF THE YEAR COMPETITION
Awards also presented for Social
Responsibility and Leveraging International Trade Concepts.
Colorado Springs, Colo. — On Saturday night in Boston, Junior
Achievement crowned "Smile"-a team of 16 teen entrepreneurs from Calgary,
Alberta, the winners of the 2009 North American JA Company of the Year
Competition. Title sponsorship for the event was provided by FedEx, with
supporting sponsorships from HP and Northeastern University.
"Smile" was comprised of Junior Achievement students from Western Canada High
School and Bishop Carroll High School-and bested 19 other student companies by
demonstrating superior performance and innovation. Smile helps children enjoy
and understand the importance of good dental hygiene through the creation and
distribution of the "Brush Buddies Dental Kit." The kit included a toothbrush,
toothbrush holder with sand timer, floss sticks, a marker, a chart, and a
storybook written and illustrated by Smile members. Smile was represented at the
event by students Salima Hirji, Faiza Harji, Corinna La, Amanda Le, and Jillian
Yaworski.
Second place was taken by "Jump for a Cause," an Atlanta-based Junior
Achievement student company which produced two-gigabyte USB drives fashioned
into a bracelet.
Third place was won by "MagneticKits," also from Atlanta. They made and sold
a magnetic, organizational kit including shopping lists, dry-erase markers, a
high-quality white board, and a dry-erase daily organizer.
The competition is Junior Achievement's annual celebration of the
accomplishments of JA Company Program students ages 15-19 in the United
States and Canada. The finalists showcased their enterprise and business acumen
before a panel of independent judges who evaluated each company's performance
against the competition criteria, which includes their annual report, a
four-minute business presentation before an audience, a trade booth display, and
a final interview with the judging panel. One of the competition's goals is to
measure each team's business achievements with members' individual personal
development and knowledge.
Eligibility for the 2009 North American JA Student Company of the Year
Competition was limited to qualifying student teams that completed JA Company
ProgramTM during the 2008-2009 academic year. During JA
Company Program, students start and run their own businesses with support
from a volunteer from their local business communities. Students devise their
product, market and produce it while trying to realize a profit for their
shareholders. The program currently impacts 322,000 students a year globally.
Other awards presented at the competition included the FedEx Global Access
Award, won by "Jump for a Cause" from Junior Achievement of Georgia, selling a
2GB USB Flash Drive Bracelet through a cause-related marketing campaign. Jump
for a Cause-as evaluated by a special FedEx jury- presented the best business
plan incorporating concepts related to international trade, resource management,
environmental sustainability and global market expansion, earning them the first
FedEx North American Global Access Award.
The HP Responsible Business Award was also presented at the North American JA
Company of the Year Competition, won by "Project My World" representing Junior
Achievement of Georgia. They marketed and sold an Eco-Tote-made of 100 percent
recycled material-which collapsed into a small zip pouch for easy storage and
re-use. Project My World sold 800 Eco-Totes and donated over 20 percent of their
profits to charity. A special HP jury evaluated the student companies based on
the award criteria of financial performance, social responsibility,
environmental excellence and innovation and awarded HP notebook computers to
Project My World.
"This competition is an exciting opportunity for Junior Achievement student
entrepreneurs to demonstrate the teamwork, leadership and innovative thinking
that will help them drive success in the business world," said Sean C. Rush,
president and chief executive officer of JA Worldwide. "They also have the
opportunity to create connections and share ideas with other JA students, while
learning the value of responsibility and the pursuit of excellence as they build
business-and personal-success. Our sponsors FedEx and HP are helping to empower
students to reach high levels of business excellence-and share these skills with
the world."
About JA Worldwide® (Junior Achievement)
Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to inspiring
and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated
volunteer network, Junior Achievement provides in-school and after-school
programs for students which focus on three key content areas: work readiness,
entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. Today, 135 individual area operations
reach more than four million students in the United States, with an additional
five million students served by operations in 123 other countries worldwide. For
more information, visit www.ja.org.
About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad
portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual
revenues of $35 billion, the company offers integrated business applications
through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively,
under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world's most
admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 280,000 employees
and contractors to remain "absolutely, positively" focused on safety, the
highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and
communities. For more information, visit
news.fedex.com.
About HP
HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and
institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, global
services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. Today,
Hewlett-Packard (HP) is a leading technology solutions provider to consumers,
businesses and institutions globally. With a portfolio that spans printing,
personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the
world's largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $100.5 billion for the four
fiscal quarters ended July 31, 2007. HP has been operating in the Europe, Middle
East and Africa (EMEA) region since 1959 and is the Number One IT company in
this region. Currently, HP has 43 subsidiaries and 41,700 employees in EMEA.
More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.
About Northeastern
Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university
located in the heart of Boston. Northeastern is a leader in interdisciplinary
research, urban engagement, and the integration of classroom learning with
real-world experience. The university's distinctive cooperative education
program, where students alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of
paid work in fields relevant to their professional interests and major, is one
of the largest and most innovative in the world. The University offers a
comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees
through the doctorate in six undergraduate colleges, eight graduate schools, and
two part-time divisions. For more information, please visit
www.northeastern.edu.
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