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NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
December 15, 2009
PERUVIAN Teens Win 2009 LATIN American
Junior Achievement Student Company of the Year Competition
Awards
also presented for social responsibility and leveraging international trade
concepts.
Colorado Springs, Colo. –
On Saturday night in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Junior Achievement crowned “Le
Truffe” — a team of teen entrepreneurs from Lima, Peru — the winners of the 2009
Latin American JA Student Company of the Year
Competition sponsored by FedEx.
Le Truffe was comprised of Junior Achievement students from Colegio Santa Maria
Marianistas —and bested 18 other student companies by demonstrating superior
performance and innovation. The company made chocolate truffles called “DeliTruffas.”
The recipe included a “100% Peruvian” ingredient—“abstract of algarrobina,” from
trees grown in northern Peru, and encouraged the maintenance of forests and
ecological responsibility. The company recycled all discarded paper and plastic
material and used the proceeds to support educational scholarships for disabled
children. Le Truffe targeted their product to Internet shoppers, TV viewers,
customers at two major malls, and friends and family.
Second place was taken by “Del Huerto” (“From the Garden”), of Villa Maria
School, also from Lima. The JA student company produced a pickled vegetable
mixture called El Rocotito, made from rocoto (Peruvian hot peppers), onions,
Worcestershire Sauce, olive oil, lemon, oregano and other spices. Del Huerto
utilized locally grown resources and donated part of its profits to Operación
Sonrisa, a non-profit organization that provides free reconstructive and plastic
surgery for low-income children who were born with a cleft palate.
Third place was won by “Cargosas” from Quito, Ecuador. They produced a reusable
tote bag made out recycled plastic bags, available in three different designs.
The competition, co-sponsored by HP, is Junior Achievement’s inaugural
celebration of the accomplishments of JA Company Program students, ages
15-19, in Latin America.
The finalists showcased their enterprise and business
acumen before a panel of independent judges who evaluated each company’s
performance against the competition criteria, which includes an annual report, a
four-minute business presentation before an audience, a trade booth display, and
a final interview with the judging panel. One of the competition’s goals is to
measure each team’s business achievements with members’ individual personal
development and knowledge.
Eligibility for
the 2009 Latin American JA Student Company of the
Year Competition was limited to qualifying
student teams
that completed JA Company Program™ during the
2008-2009 academic year. During JA Company Program,
students start and run their own businesses with
support from a local business volunteer. Students devise their product and then
market it, with the objective of realizing a profit for shareholders. The
program currently impacts 360,000 students a year globally.
Other awards presented at the competition included the FedEx Global Access
Award, won by
Cargosas Quito. As evaluated by a special FedEx jury, Cargosas Quito presented the best
business plan incorporating concepts related to international trade, resource
management, environmental sustainability and global market expansion.
The HP Responsible Business Award, also presented at the Latin American JA
Student Company of the Year Competition, was won by “Ecoviña,” from The German
School of Valparaiso, Viña del Mar-Valparaiso, Chile. The company produced
handmade greeting cards made from recycled paper, and also taught local
primary-school students about the importance recycling. A special HP jury
evaluated the student companies based on the award criteria of financial
performance, social responsibility, environmental excellence and innovation and
awarded HP mini notebook computers to Ecoviña.
“This
competition is an exciting opportunity for Junior Achievement student
entrepreneurs to demonstrate the teamwork, leadership and innovative thinking
that will help them drive success in the business world,” said Sean C. Rush, president and
chief executive officer of JA Worldwide. “They
also have the opportunity to create connections and share ideas with other JA
students, while learning the value of responsibility and the pursuit of
excellence as they build business—and personal—success. Our sponsors FedEx and
HP are helping to empower students to reach high levels of business
excellence—and share these skills with the world.”
About JA Worldwide® (Junior Achievement)
Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to inspiring
and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated
volunteer network, Junior Achievement provides in-school and after-school
programs for students which focus on three key content areas: work readiness,
entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. Today, 129 individual area
operations reach more than four million students in the United States, with an
additional 5.7 million students served by operations in 121 other countries
worldwide. For more information, visit
www.ja.org.
About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad
portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual
revenues of $34 billion, the company offers integrated business applications
through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively,
under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world's most
admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 275,000 employees
and contractors to remain "absolutely, positively" focused on safety, the
highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and
communities. For more information, visit
news.fedex.com.
About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on
people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology
company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing,
software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More
information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at
http://www.hp.com.
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