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Canadian Teens Win 2009 North American Junior Achievement Student Company of the Year Competition |
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NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: CANADIAN TEENS WIN 2009
NORTH AMERICAN 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. 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) About FedEx Corp. About HP About Northeastern # # #
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