The Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta Foundation congratulates the winners of the HSBC Company of the Year Programme, Xzibit, a team of eight students from De La Salle College. Their idea was based on social enterprise principles where the team set up a project to give artists of all kind a chance to be seen and recognised.
Xzibit will be representing Malta at the JA-YE European Finals to be held in London later on this year. The Final Presentation Awards ceremony was held on 1 May at Le Meridien, St Julian’s.
The first runner-up PluggedIn from Verdala International High School and the second runner-up, Suds from G. F. Abela Junior College, were also announced.
The evening was an occasion for the participating teams to celebrate and shine. Nine teams, with a total of 58 students, progressed to the final stages of the competition: HoldIt, Sort It Out, Cryo-Wear, Zipped, Suds, ThinkSync, PluggedIn, iDesign Bureau and Xzibit. These teams should be commended for their perseverance and dedication throughout this course.
10 signature awards were also presented on the night and these were:
1 The Best Business Plan Award presented by Deloitte to Zipped from St Aloysius College
2 The Best Presented Financial Statements Award presented by Deloitte to Zipped from St Aloysius College
3 The Best use of Technology Award presented by Playmobil to iDesign Bureau from St Martin’s College
4 The Best HR & Operations Award presented by Farsons to Zipped from St Aloysius College
5 The Most Creative Product/Service Award presented by Debono Group to ThinkSync from St Aloysius College
6 Adpro Award for Best Quality System presented by Adpro Instruments Ltd to Zipped from St Aloysius College
7 The Best Presentation Award presented by Vsquared to Xzibit from De La Salle College
8 The Social Enterprise Award presented by Microsoft to Xzibit from De La Salle College
9 The Best Implementation of Marketing & Sales Strategies Award presented by CIM to Zipped from St Aloysius College
Two students were also chosen for Deloitte internship: Gabriella Gauci Borda from St Aloysius College and Michael Dingli from G. F. Abela Junior College.
The Minister for Education and Employment Evarist Bartolo, presented the awards. Michael Ellul Vincenti, chairman acknowledged the work being done in education and presented the minister with the John Harper Award.
Participants in the Company Programme, typically aged between 16 and 19, set up and run their own business over the course of the academic year. This successful initiative gives youths the opportunity to unveil their entrepreneurial potential and develop skills that will help them in their professional and personal futures.
This year, 153 students will also be receiving a certificate for participating in Module 1 of the Programme: The Deloitte Business Plan. This initiative gave the opportunity to 16-year-olds to complete a business plan and present this to a formal panel of judges. Pitching an idea at this age is quite a feat when one considers the tender age of these students.
The Board members of the Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta Foundation would like to thank all those persons who have offered their support throughout this year. Of special mention are the corporate sponsors: HSBC Malta Foundation, Deloitte, Microsoft and Atlas Insurance, who made all of this possible. Their belief in Malta’s future entrepreneurs is clearly evident in their sustenance of the Foundation.
A big thanks also goes to the judges, link teachers, business advisors and the Alumni who have shared their knowledge and experience to guide these students in this journey. They have worked towards extending the learning curve of the Company Programme and made yet another year of this initiative successful.
For further information about the programme visit http://cp.youngenterprise.org.mt; email: [email protected] or phone on 2124 4991.