Skills for Employability | Entrepreneurship | Financial Literacy
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
SWEDISH TEAM WINS FEDEX ACCESS AWARD
JA-YE Europe Company Competition 2010
Brussels, July 26th — FedEx and Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise (JA-YE) Europe
have named the Swedish team ‘Bolsa’ as the winner of the prestigious FedEx Access
Award, presented to the JA-YE student company which best demonstrates their
understanding and application of global access, leveraging international trade to create
jobs, grow small businesses, expand global development and improve the environment.
Bolsa was recognised for its unique conceptualisation around the development and retail
of their range of travel bags made from recycled materials.
The winners were announced at a glittering award ceremony that marked the end of the
three-day-long JA-YE Europe Company of the Year Competition 2010, hosted by JA
Italy. As this year’s winning team, Bolsa recorded healthy sales levels in Sweden and
have expressed plans to expand throughout Europe. The judges were highly impressed
by the company’s astute business acumen, their international concept, presentation
skills and all round professionalism. Bolsa surpassed the judge’s expectations with an
early understanding of the positive impacts of global trade.
“You have to work hard for success, work as a group to solve conflicts, set goals and
make lots of contacts” explains Anna from the Bolsa team. “I think after this experience
we will get a job more easily, we have a really good experience of how a company works
and we’re good at cooperation now.”
Skills for Employability | Entrepreneurship | Financial Literacy
“No society in history has improved its standard of living without opening up markets,”
says Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President and CEO of FedEx Corp. and a JA
Business Hall of Fame inductee. “When you give people access to more products and
goods around the world, the pie expands and people’s living standards increase. The
FedEx Access Initiative helps Junior Achievement students understand the impact of
global access to create high-paying jobs, grow small and medium-sized business, and to
benefit our world’s environment.”
The JA-YE Company Programme itself provides students aged between 15 and 21 with
in-depth experience of hosting a range of entrepreneurial functions from project
conceptualisation right through to design and production. Students were also given the
opportunity of electing officers, negotiating wholesale and retail prices, calculating breakeven points, preparing budgets, paying wages, conducting market research, creating
advertising and selling products. At the end of the programme, students liquidated their
company, prepared a profit and loss statement and balance sheet and reported on their
key learnings to a panel of their shareholders.
The small business sector is a key focus market for FedEx. The business start-up rate in
the regular population in Europe is 6%. For former participants in JA-YE student
companies the percentage of the population starting their own businesses jumps to 15%
between the ages of 20 and 29 and 25% over the age of 29. In the last 5 years alone
more than one million students have taken part in the Company Programme and with
these increased start-up rates they will go on to have a significant positive impact on the
economy of Europe.
“We are extremely proud to have the support of companies like FedEx in helping us
identify the business leaders of tomorrow. FedEx is a world leader in global trade and
access and by sharing their experience, we are giving students real insight into the
realities of global business and the positive impact of global access,” said Caroline
Jenner, CEO of JA-YE Europe.
Skills for Employability | Entrepreneurship | Financial Literacy
More than 175 students from 34 European countries took part in the event including,
Junior Achievement “ambassadors” from Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia.
Notes to Editors
JA-YE Europe Company of the Year Competition
July 20-23, Cagliari, Italy - Event hosted JA Italy
Student companies from 34 European countries, winners of their national competitions,
will be involved in the 21st JA-YE Europe Company of the Year Competition.
More than 175 participants will take part in the event including Junior Achievement
“ambassadors” from Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia and in total over 231,000 secondary
school students have set up JA-YE student companies this academic year in Europe,
offering everything from clothing and accessories for construction workers, a solution to
secure private car parks, an interactive manual for education, re-useable multi-purpose
bag to a mini-hole punch. These projects are being promoted by JA-YE Europe to help
develop the entrepreneurial spirit in the EU, thereby boosting the creation of jobs.
JA-YE Europe (www.ja-ye.org) is Europe’s largest provider of entrepreneurship
education programmes, reaching 3.1 million students in 38 countries in 2009. Funded by
businesses, institutions, foundations and individuals, JA-YE 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. The JA-YE Company
Programme is recognised by the European Commission Enterprise Directorate General
as a ‘Best Practice in Entrepreneurship Education’. JA-YE Europe is the European
headquarters for JA Worldwide.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad
portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of
$35 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 280,000 team members 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.
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