Garin College Student says ‘YES’ to NMIT Award

Garin College Student says ‘YES’ to NMIT Award

A Garin College student who was part of a business team that made and sold moisturizing bars at the Nelson Market is the winner of the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology YES Award for Outstanding Enterprise Skills.

Laura Moriarty will be presented with her award by NMIT Chief Executive Tony Gary at the Garin College Prize Giving this Thursday December 1st.

The Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) is an experiential business programme where secondary students set up a company, create real products or services, and make real profit or loss. Laura was the Marketing Director for her team and she’s now progressing on to do business studies at NMIT in 2012.

“I love the experience of developing a business from scratch. It’s given me more financial knowledge. I can’t wait to start at NMIT next year, and once I graduate I’d love to move into a career in the banking sector,” says Laura.

The NMIT YES Award for Outstanding Enterprise Skills recipient is selected by the YES Coordinator for exceptional performance in the YES programme 2011. The winner receives $2500 towards their study fees.

NMIT Chief Executive Tony Gray says NMIT is pleased to be able to support the Young Enterprise Scheme with this award.

“The scheme is proven to motivate and excite students about careers in business and management and NMIT is able to support those pathways with a range of programmes that allow our budding entrepreneurs to gain expertise and skills without having to leave the region. I congratulate Laura and look forward to welcoming her onto campus next year.”

The Youth Enterprise scheme provides Top of The South secondary schools students’ year 12 and 13 with the opportunity to learn about the business world. Students set up a company, create real products or services, and make a real profit or loss. Over the years, NMIT and YES have established a relationship from hosting the initial E-Day (Enterprise Day) to providing scholarships and awards for participating YES students.

YES regional coordinator for the Top of the South Robert Panzer says Laura Moriarty received the NMIT YES Award for her participation, persistence and work ethic with the business team Halan from Garin College.

“Seeing the personal development and growth in confidence, together with the accumulated business knowledge outside the classroom, is enhancing the students life experience. This all contributes to the local business community and creates pathways for the students which they may not have taken otherwise,” says Robert Panzer.

Laura’s team called their company Halan after the initials of all five team members and she says at the end of the year they broke even. She says she’d recommend the YES programme to any high school student who is interested in business.

“It gave me a lot of confidence because you have to communicate with a wide range of people to get your product made and marketed. And then you have to convince people to buy the product, as well as learning financial skills, so it’s a great experience to help with your future.”

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