School business challenge awards

School business challenge awards

AUT Manukau campus hosts 2011 Plantation Business Challenge

The 2011 Plantation Business Challenge wrapped up in style at a recent awards ceremony at AUT’s Manukau campus.

Now in its sixth year, the Plantation Business Challenge (PBC), developed in partnership with AUT and the Pacific Business Trust, is open to senior students in Year 12 and 13 Pasifika students from schools around the Auckland region. The programme’s focus is to encourage Pasifika entrepreneurship, raise awareness of business as a professional practice with Pasifika youth, and prepare students for tertiary study.

This year, the competition was extended to 55 students from 11 schools, with 12 teams made up of four-five students each. Each team had ten weeks to develop a business case within a particular category, before pitching it to a Dragon’s Den panel of judges in the final week.

Speaking at the awards ceremony last week, judge and AUT Regional Account Manag-er (Manukau), Gareth Dyer said, “This was a really tough competition; one of the best in the past six years. The level of professionalism from the teams was re-ally high, the calibre was amazing, and it was tough going for the judging pan-el.”

First place was awarded to De La Salle College, for a presentation described by Dyer as “knock[ing] the judges’ socks off.” Second place went to Manurewa High School (Pac-Lan), with Auckland Girls Grammar coming in third.

Category awards:

Best Business Plan – Auckland Girls Grammar Best Marketing Pitch – Manurewa High School (Pac-Lan) Business Development Award – Kelston Girls College & De La Salle College Applied Learning – Manurewa High School (Pac-Lan) Innovation in the Changing World – Kelston Girls College The Professionals – De La Salle Col-lege

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