1 July 2004

Northland’s young entrepreneurs checked out by public and business experts

Northland’s up-and-coming entrepreneurs have recently put their concepts up for scrutiny by both the general public and business experts, as they continue to develop their commercial skills through the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES).

YES, administered in Northland by Enterprise Northland, is a learning experience in which senior secondary school students form companies, become directors, and develop products and services which they market and sell.

YES co-ordinator David Templeton said this year’s entrants were showcased to the public at recent trade fairs in Kerikeri and Whangarei.

“These two events were well supported by the public and featured a huge variety of products and services, from teaching resources for pre-schoolers to a design for an outdoor shower powered by compost,” said Mr Templeton.

The two winners in Kerikeri were: Mini Mimics (Broadwood Area School), marketing mini-discs with Christmas Music for businesses to reward their loyal staff and customers and Macro Maths (Kerikeri High School), providing a tutoring service for students studying NCEA Level 1 maths.

The two winners in Whangarei were: Smart Juniors (Kamo High School), selling educational resource material for pre-schoolers and Reflections (Tikipunga High School), marketing hand-made picture frames and cards using natural resources such as paua shell.

The trade fairs were made possible by sponsors ANZ Bank, Northpower and Top Energy.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, a judging panel made up of Northland Polytechnic business tutors and an ANZ manager has assessed the business plans prepared by the YES companies.

Smart Juniors (Kamo High School) again stood out and was named overall winner. Eight other companies received special commendations.

This year’s YES entrants will be running their businesses until September, when the companies are wound up. Their successes will be celebrated at a Northland awards ceremony and one of the businesses will be selected to go on to the national awards in Wellington.

ENDS

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