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Entella Company from Turkey wins the JA Europe Company of the Year Competition 2019

Lille, France, 05 July 2019

The mini-company Entella Company from Turkey won JA Europe Company of the Year 2019, hosted this year by JA France Entreprendre Pour Apprendre, in Lille.

The  Company of the Year Competition is the flagship event of JA Europe that empowers students aged 15-18 to run a mini-company from top to bottom. It fosters their entrepreneurial skills, giving them the opportunity to design a business concept and apply it in real life.

Having participated in the year-long JA Company Programme and qualifying at a national-level, more than 200 students from 40 national teams across Europe competed for the coveted title of JA Europe Company of the Year 2019. The evaluation of the companies was based on the evidence of innovation and the successful exploitation of new ideas in all aspects of running a company.

Entella Company created Mareen, a cylindrical filter that aids in waste capture and removal in the ocean and other bodies of water. The team thoroughly met these criteria and impressed the jury chaired this year by Maxime Holder, President of PAUL International. 

"We know it takes a team to build a dream. Entella Company demonstrated a great team spirit. At the same time, they were able to face the failure together and I believe that being an entrepreneur means that very often the success won't be there at the first stage of your life." said Maxime Holder, President of PAUL International.

On receiving the award, member of the winning team said: “We are honored to win this award which is a recognition of all our hard work. It demonstrates that it's not about your origin or your country, or whatever you're doing, it's about passion. I would like to thanks the jury, our teacher, Junior Achievement Turkey and my team. "

The JA Company programme is an entrepreneurship education programme that bridges the gap between classrooms and workplaces. As such, teachers and business volunteers play a key role in the delivery of the programme. JA provides teachers with a series of learning-by-doing business, economics and entrepreneurship activities, while business volunteers visit the classrooms to share their experience and mentor students on career opportunities, entrepreneurship and the necessary skills required to match their ambitions.

Alongside showcasing the best European mini-companies, JA Europe and its national affiliates have celebrated the 100th anniversary of JA and the 30 years of the JA Europe Company of the Year Competition.

“As we celebrate JA’s first 100 years, the JA Company Program continues to deliver its positive impact on young people’s self-efficacy and entrepreneurial potential. The role of business volunteers is crucial and we are thankful to all our partners and sponsors who are making adventures such as the JA Europe Company of the Year Competition possible,” said Caroline Jenner, CEO of JA Europe.

Besides the JA Europe Company of the Year Award, the young entrepreneurs also competed for several signature awards, supported by AT&T, BNP Paribas, Citi Foundation, Delta, FedEx, ManpowerGroup and MetLife Foundation. The evaluation criteria for winning these signature awards included different business aspects such as innovation, sustainability and client focus.


Jury members:
  • Maxime Holder (Chair Judge), President of PAUL International, France
  • Luiza Buzea, Head of Investment & GM Deputy, Metropolitan Life, Romania
  • Tatiana Lebedeva, Industry & Government Relations Manager, Boeing-Russia/CIS at Boeing – Russia
  • Juan Bossicard, Corporate Citizenship Manager Avanade Inc., Belgium
  • Kristina Pavleska, Assistant to the Governor on Financial Education and Financial Education Unit Coordinator in the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia
  • Riley Doyle Evans, Cross-KIC Education Project Manager, EIT RawMaterials, Germany
  • Dalibor Slávik, Executive Search Senior Consultant, Managing Partner & Senior Human Capital Consultant, SLAVIK & STELL - Executive Search & Advisory – Slovakia
  • Joni Tikkanen, CMO, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company
  • Dr. Rosen Dimitrov, Public Affairs Manager, Novartis Bulgaria
  • Anca Fanea, Senior Client Asset Protection Compliance Officer at BNY Mellon SA, Belgium
Award Criteria:
  • Innovation, Value Creation and Entrepreneurship
  • Product/Service Development and Customer Focus
  • Financial Performance
  • Objective Setting, Planning/Review, and Company Administration
  • Ability to Demonstrate Achievements in Learning
JA Europe Company of the Year Award
Signature Awards

AT&T Excellence in IT Award
AT&T Excellence in IT Award recognizes the student-company that demonstrates the best innovation-driven concept, with strong business potential and sustainability, as well as viability and scalability.
Winner: SAVeat from Greece

BNP Paribas Social Entrepreneurship Award
The BNP PARIBAS Social Entrepreneurship Award is awarded to the student company that demonstrates a passion to change social patterns to make them more inclusive and environmental friendly by introducing new products/services or technologies, or by having a different approach than the traditional one.
Winner: Meehr from Germany

Citi Foundation Client Focus Award
The Citi Foundation Client Focus Award recognizes student enterprises that excel at creating value for their clients, listening to their clients and walking in their shoes to understand their world, anticipating and serving their changing needs.
Winner: Hush-Hush Underwear from Denmark

DELTA Innovation Award
Delta’s Innovation Award is given to the student company which: has an innovative or effective approach for solving a problem or developing further a product, their idea has a potential to prosper and has an international prospect; their idea is easy to implement and has a functional business model.
Winner: Water Safe from Spain

FedEx Access Award
FedEx believes entrepreneurs help build connections that can power the world. Because the company also believe a more connected world is a better world, they proudly support global entrepreneurship education.
The FedEx Access Award recognizes student-run businesses that best exhibit the principles of global connectivity.
Winner:  Entella Company from Turkey

ManpowerGroup "Ready for Work" Award
The ManpowerGroup “Ready for Work” Award recognizes those teams that have best built work readiness skills during the competition. In 2019, ManpowerGroup will be presenting the award for the project that makes most significant impact on developing learnability, a key component of work readiness.
Winner: Raw Straw from Sweden

MetLife LifeChanger Award
The MetLife LifeChanger Award aims to award student companies which best embraces the concepts social impact, financial performance and innovation in their business strategy while remaining a realistic plan in today’s marketplace.
Winner: CarBIOrante from France

Alumni Leadership Award

•    Ioanna Chrysovitsioti (Cyprus)
•    Anna Jędrzejewska (Poland)
•    Stylianos Boulitsakis - Logothetis (Greece)
•    Mathieu Gonzalez (France)
•    Jakob Otilius Flovikholm (Norway)
•    Anna Bech (Denmark)
•    Gerda Prakopimaite (Lithuania)
•    Popa Cristiana (Romania)
•    Samuel Šlesar (Slovakia)
•    Kitija Korosevska (Latvia)


For more information, please contact:
Sophie Norman, JA Europe
sophie@jaeurope.org

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