Students selected for trade challenge workshop

Top 11 Students Selected for FedEx/Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge Workshop

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, June 15, 2010 – New Zealand’s dairy sector could be set for a boost following the regional heat of the FedEx/Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge (ITC), in which 72 top high school students were set the task of coming up with milk based products to export to the South East Asian market.

After a gruelling seven hours, the budding entrepreneurs aged between 16-19, presented ideas ranging from milk based soaps that prevent malaria to protein shots that are high in nutrients, a clever product that mixes milk powder with spring water and is drunk through a straw which coats the liquid in different flavours and a tablet which is made from milk protein that kills mosquito’s.

This morning, FedEx Express and Young Enterprise Trust announced the top 11 who will go on to the FedEx/Junior Achievement ITC Weekend Workshop in Auckland on July 17 and 18. From this, a final six will be selected to represent New Zealand at the 2010 Asia Pacific FedEx/Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge in Singapore in August, and defend the regional title and second place that the New Zealand students achieved in the 2009 competition. The New Zealand representatives will be competing for the coveted title of Asia Pacific champions alongside seven other Asia Pacific countries, and their 42 representatives.
The students are:
1. Benjamin Braid – Christchurch Boys High School
2. James Dalzell – Wanganui Collegiate
3. Lisa Fairclough – New Plymouth Girls High School
4. Sophia Faure – St Mary’s College, Wellington
5. Pavel Granger – Rangitoto College, Auckland
6. Katy Hendrikse – Putaruru College, Tokoroa
7. Jess Howell – Lynfield College, Auckland
8. Grace Orourke – Kaitaia Abundant Life School
9. Joseph Payne – Macleans College, Auckland
10. Sarah Robertson – Columba College, Dunedin
11. Kruger Schaumakel – Westlake Boys High School

They were selected by votes from FedEx Express mentors, staff from Young Enterprise Trust, Corporate hosts of the ten student teams and the students themselves. Donna Dentice, CEO of Young Enterprise Trust, said these 11 students were selected based upon our three judges observations, mentor feedback and student voting.

FedEx Express Country Manager New Zealand & Pacific Islands, Lee Davies, was one of the three judges who received presentations from all eight teams and said the high standard of innovation and content of each presentation showed exceptional talent emerging through the next generation of entrepreneurs.

“Not only were we impressed by the great creativity of these young students but also with their exceptional team work. The students come from all over the country and are placed in a real pressure-cooker environment, so not only are they faced with the business challenge but also coping with new group dynamics. They were very professional and made good, decisive decisions which, given the time constraint, was really pleasing to see.”

“The key thing all 72 students need to remember is that the business world they aspire to operate in will be a markedly different and more difficult economic environment than that of their predecessors. Finding cashflow to fund their various initiatives will be one of the biggest challenges they face.”

As passport applications were passed out to the 11 students after the announcement, the group’s discussion was focused on the excitement of regrouping in a few weeks to do it all again at the FedEx/Junior Achievement ITC Weekend Workshop, where the students will develop a uniquely New Zealand product and prepare to market it to the world. They will be mentored by experts from various disciplines, in preparation for the week-long regional competition in Singapore.

This is the second time New Zealand is participating in the FedEx/Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge, which was launched in 2007 by FedEx Express and Junior Achievement Worldwide to educate and inspire young people to understand how entrepreneurship can improve the quality of their lives and communities.

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