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JA Europe and CCV team up to boost youth entrepreneurship in Western Europe

CCV and JA Europe are launching a new partnership in 4 Western European countries equipping 600 young people aged 15-18 with skills they need to get a job or start a business.

Through this new collaboration, over 600 young people aged 15-18 from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland will participate in a one-year entrepreneurship education programme, the JA Company Programme. At least 60 JA mini companies will be created throughout the year with the support of CCV professional volunteers helping students to acquire the skills and knowledge they will need to start a business or to be successfully employed.

Positive impact

New research from the ICEE policy experimentation project confirms that the JA Company programme has a positive impact on students and society. Preliminary results indicate that students involved in the JA Company programme for 100 hours or more do better in several areas: ability to coordinate activities, decision making skills, presentation skills, taking initiative in addition to perceived feasibility and perceived desirability for self-employment. The research also found increased learning in key competence areas such as: oral communication, written communication, social competence, cultural awareness and expression, and civic competence.

Supporting ambition

CCV has offices in 4 European countries, more than 1000 employees and over 200,000 clients across Europe. They work together with customers, partners and suppliers to find the most suitable payment solution – one that reflects ones’ specific ambitions and needs. Their solutions ensure an optimal shopping experience and seamlessly reflect consumer purchasing and payment behaviour, regardless of time, place or payment method. They offer this omni-channel experience in collaboration with various partners throughout Europe.

Enny van de Velden, CCO and Chair of the Board of CCV Group: “Entrepreneurship is at the core of our business. My parents started the company 60 years ago as true entrepreneurs and for most of our clients this is also the heart of their business. As a family owned company we want to make a difference in this area. That is why we are very enthusiastic about the JA program and about contributing to the education of young people in this field.”

Boosting youth employment

JA programmes are teaching students since 1919, how to build their own enterprise from bottom to top, giving them a glimpse into the business world and offering them the opportunities to experience running a company first-hand. As boosting youth employment becomes a major drive for Europe’s growth, it is crucial to prepare young people to have the right skills for today’s jobs in the global markets. By bringing the business and education worlds together to support these programmes, JA Europe and the CCV aim to tackle the problem of skills gap in Europe.

“We are proud to partner with CCV who understand that starting early is key if we want to foster entrepreneurial mind sets. Our partnership will have a powerful impact not just on students, but on their schools and teachers. Equipping young people with the skills they need to start a business or get a job is one of the best investments we can make,”- concludes Caroline Jenner, CEO of JA Europe.

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About JA Europe
JA Europe is Europe’s largest provider of education programmes for entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy, reaching 3.6 million students in 40 countries in 2017. JA Europe brings the public and private sectors together to provide young people in primary and secondary schools and early university with high-quality education programmes to teach them about enterprise, entrepreneurship, business and economics in a practical way. JA Europe is the European Regional Operating Centre for JA Worldwide®.
Learn more: http://www.jaeurope.org/


About CCV
CCV is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs apply new payment solutions throughout Europe. These include different in-store payment and loyalty solutions (both cloud-based and non-cloud-based), powerful online solutions (including webshops) and self-service payment solutions. They ensure entrepreneurs that these solutions are optimally aligned with their customers' journey and their own business operations, helping them to generate new business opportunities.
CCV services both small and large businesses – from international chains to independent stores – in various markets. As an innovative partner they are not confined by national borders. They aim to help their customers benefit from the knowledge and expertise of their European employees.
More info: www.ccv.eu

For press enquiries, please contact:

JA Europe Communications - media@jaeurope.org

CCV Group – Michelle Dorresteijn, m.dorresteijn@ccv.eu