Starlings take flight to Lucerne
Starling, a Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta Foundation (JAYE Malta) company represented Malta at the 27th Junior Achievement Europe Company of The Year Competition in Lucerne, Switzerland last July. As winners of the national JAYE Malta Company Programme – offered to all students receiving Post-Secondary education – Starling was one of 40 teams from 36 countries that meet annually to showcase their products / services and highlight their entrepreneurial journey to various panels of experienced business jurists.
Over 400 students, JAYE staff, teachers, and advisers from 36 countries were involved in this three-day competition presided over by the President of Swiss Confederation, Johann Schneider-Ammann.
JAYE Malta is a non-government, non-profit organisation promoting entrepreneurship education, employability skills, and financial literacy. Starling won the coveted JAYE Malta’s HSBC Company of the Year award, as well as the Best Implementation of Marketing & Sales Strategies Award presented by CIM Malta. Over a period of one scholastic year, Starling created their mini-company and launched The Innovase Collection by using rejected or discarded wine bottles. This collection is comprised of unique upcycled wine bottles that are turned into contemporary decoration pieces through handmade designs.
The Maltese delegation consisted of the seven student-entrepreneurs aged between 16 and 17: Samuel Sciberras (Managing Director), Kay Lee Micallef (Company Secretary), Samuel Bonello (Finance Director), Nicola Micallef (Human Resource Director), Jake Bartolo (Operations Director), Sophie Gatt (Marketing Director), and Miguel Pellegrini Petit (Sales Director), as well at the St. Aloysius College Link Teacher, Mr Keith Sammut, and two JAYE Malta staff.
“The opportunity to start up and run our own company is something many wish for and we consider ourselves lucky to have achieved it. Junior Achievement Young Enterprise has given us the proper platform on which we can successfully operate our business with a step by step approach in which we gain the necessary skills and experience so that we can be confident entrepreneurs in the real world of business.” said an enthused Miguel Pellefrini Petit on behalf of Starling.
SubReader, a student mini company from Denmark won the JA Europe Company of the Year Competition after impressing the judges with their strong business concept. SubReader created an app which works independently of any setup to help dyslexic people read subtitles on international TV and movies through synchronised interpretation.
JAYE Malta CEO Julian Azzopardi stressed the importance of giving increased access to such events to Maltese youth as “it brings them face-to-face with the reality of the market’s competitiveness. They understand that their business is not solely local but also global and the success they achieve is dependent on how well they can adapt, seek, reinvent themselves according to the new market opportunities available and, more importantly, those they create themselves. We are proud to have been supporting Maltese youth for over 28 years and thank all our partners who make participation at these events possible.”
For further information about the Company Programme, please contact the National Coordinator, Ms Analise Sammut on asammut@youngenterprise.org.mt
Further information can also be accessed from the JAYE Malta website: www.youngenterprise.org.mt, e-mail: info@youngenterprise.org.mt, or call 2124 4991.