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NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
June 28, 2010

CHICAGO-AREA team “INKSPOT” Wins Responsible Business Ideas Contest

Innovative young entrepreneurs excel at business and social responsibility.

Colorado Springs, Colo. — Junior Achievement and HP have announced the winner of the North American HP Responsible Business Ideas Contest. The contest recognizes students across the United States and Canada for business ideas that best combine business practice with social and environmental responsibility. The award will be formally presented at Junior Achievement’s North American Student Company of the Year event in Minneapolis which will take place from July 18 - 20.

“Inkspot,” developed by high school students from the Chicago area, created a scholastic magazine. Generating advertising revenue was not their only achievement; Inkspot also created a space for the student community to dialogue, and also supported local artists by using their content in the magazine. They also demonstrated corporate social responsibility by making donations and offering writing workshops for students, staff and the general public. Inkspot selected their suppliers based on sustainability criteria, and leveraged social media channels for promotion.

“The HP Responsible Business Ideas Contest targets the development of business and work-readiness skills while teaching the value of corporate social responsibility,” said Sandy Daffé, president of Junior Achievement of Chicago. “We are grateful to HP for its commitment to educating youth about entrepreneurship and global citizenship, and to supporting Junior Achievement’s mission to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.”

“Inkspot exemplifies HP’s vision of a strong commitment to global citizenship and social and environmental innovation. Creating a sense of responsibility while developing entrepreneurial and micro-business skills is of paramount importance,” said Gabi Zedlmayer, Vice President, Office of Global Social Innovation, HP. “Through our partnership with Junior Achievement, we can help educate tomorrow’s business leaders to safeguard our world and our shared economy. “

The Responsible Business Ideas Contest is part of the Responsible Business Competition, a flagship program of HP and JA-YE Europe, JA Latin America and JA U.S. The competition encourages students in JA-YE and JA entrepreneurship education programs to consider social and environmental responsibility. This year for the first time the competition took a global dimension with the launch of a Facebook Responsible Business Challenge. Students were asked to consider the world in 2020 and submit business ideas that could have a positive effect on the general public and the world around them. Nearly 1,900 young people took up the challenge and 130 of those submissions were shortlisted. The winners came from Romania, Canada and India.

Notes to Editors:

 Responsible Business Ideas Contest
This competition was open to JA students from the North American Region aged 15-18. The ideas were judged on the following criteria:

1.     Demonstrate strong market potential: showing the ability to be profitable and competitive.

2.     Demonstrate social responsibility: meeting the wider concerns of stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, customers and local communities.

3.     Demonstrate environmental excellence: preventing pollution, optimizing resource efficiency and developing products with minimal environmental impacts.

4.     Be innovative: innovative approach of business solution.

The winning team will receive an HP product for each member of the team (max. 5), and each member of the team (max. 5) will be invited to attend the North American JA Company of the Year Competition 2010, which will take place in Minneapolis from July 18 - 20.

About JA Worldwide® (JA)
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, 126 individual area operations reach more than four million students in the United States, with an additional 5.7 million students served by operations in 122 other countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.

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