Maebh Dimond from Gaelcholáiste Phort Láirge has won Best Student Enterprise in Waterford and has qualified for the National Student Enterprise Finals.
Stiúideo Shortcourse, winner of the Senior award, created, produced and sold local greeting cards providing creative new designs in Irish with recycled materials and crisp card designs for special occasions.
Stiúideo Shortcourse’s key focal point is promoting the Irish language through sustainable sources.
Maebh, from Gaelcholáiste Phort Láirge took part in the Local Enterprise Office’s Student Enterprise Awards on Tuesday March 5th at the Tower Hotel in Waterford.
The Waterford Student Enterprise Programme started in September with 1,000 students from 14 schools in Waterford City and County. They created their businesses, developed, branded, promoted and sold.
On Tuesday, 36 businesses in total, shortlisted from a total of 350 who commenced the competition in September, presented their business plans and challenged for the top prize in the county section of the Student Enterprise Programme.
Stiúideo Shortcourse will represent Waterford at the National Finals on May 9th, taking on 34 other businesses, the best of the rest of the country.
Co-ordinated by the Local Enterprise Office Waterford, the final took place during Local Enterprise Week. The competition is the most successful programme of its kind in the country. 27,000 budding entrepreneurs from 380 secondary schools across the country have been running their own enterprises, with help from their teachers and Local Enterprise Offices.
National finalists from all over the country will set-up enterprise exhibition displays before taking part in a series of judging interviews. The judging panels take numerous factors into account, such as business reporting, innovation, market research, risk management and finances.
Praising the teachers and local schools involved in the programme, Gareth Evans, Head of Enterprise at the Local Enterprise Office Waterford, said: “The Student Enterprise Programme encourages and enables students to take on the world of business and develop an entrepreneurial mind-set. By fostering an enterprising culture in the classroom, the Local Enterprise Offices are working with teachers and schools to help nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs.”
Further information about May’s National Finals is available through www.studententerprise.ie
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