JA 2012 Company of the Year Award
The annual North American JA Company of the Year Competition is a contest of business skills, ingenuity and innovation that focuses on the accomplishments of U.S. JA Company Program ® students, ages 15-19, during the 2011-2012 academic year. Currently reaching nearly 400,000 young people a year globally, JA Company Program gives teens the skills to start and run their own businesses under the mentorship of a local business volunteer.
1st place: Eagle Eye—Junior Achievement of Southern California Chaminade High School, West Hills, California
2nd place: Cast-A-Waste—Junior Achievement of San Diego Harmonium After School Program, San Diego, California
3rd place: Start-Up—Junior Achievement of Georgia Atlanta, Georgia
AT&T Social Innovation Intensive Award
The JA Social Innovation Intensive, presented by AT&T, is a three-day competition in which student teams devise a societal challenge for which they must create an innovative business solution. During the Intensive, the student teams work with AT&T volunteer mentors, who provide coaching around the creation of a viable solution to the chosen social issue.
The winning team—Rain Drain—proposed using rainwater instead of purified water for toilets. Their idea was to elevate a tank outside of houses and businesses in order to use gravity to bring water to toilets. The idea would potentially save a family 44 percent in utility costs and would reduce the use of fossil fuels.
Rain Drain's winning team consists of students from Junior Achievement of Georgia and Junior Achievement of Southern California.
FedEx Access Award
The FedEx Access Award is given to the student team who presents the best business plan with the potential to create jobs, grow small business, expand global development and improve the environment. The winner is evaluated by a special panel of FedEx judges.
Undefined—Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas Chinese Community Center, Houston, Texas
Best Financial Performance Award Presented by NYSE Euronext Foundation
The Best Financial Performance Award presented by NYSE Euronext Foundation is awarded to the student team which performs best against a high level of set criteria, including profitability, stockholder expectation, employee earnings, product quality, leadership, and operational efficiency.
Place Mate—Junior Achievement of San Diego Westview High School, San Diego, California
Social Media Award
The Social Media Award was given to the student company who had the most "likes" on YouTube and Facebook of their self-produced commercial. To check out all of the 2012 commercials produced by this year's teams, click here.
Undefined—Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas Chinese Community Center, Houston, Texas
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All photos noted here were taken by Risdon Photography
