Young generation’s got talent!
On June 6, 2019, took place the national final of the program "mini-enterprise" organized by the association Jonk Entrepreneuren, which aims at developing the entrepreneurial capacities of the young people. ArcelorMittal Luxembourg, which has been supporting the association for many years, was represented on the competition jury by Pierre Turpel, ArcelorMittal Luxembourg’s Government Relations Officer, to examine the best projects and business plans. Last year, the group’s first mini-company was able to present its project in Belgrade for the European final.
What is the "mini-business" program?
The "mini-company" program is an action led by the Jonk Entrepreneuren association to motivate, guide and help high school students to start a business.
Students are encouraged to create and run a business for a whole school year while being coached by their teacher and receiving advice from an expert in economics. The goal of the "Mini-Enterprise" program is to inspire and prepare young people to undertake, innovate, create, take initiatives and be responsible.
LThe mini-business forum
Great event, teachers, coaches and motivated participants!
Pierre-Nicolas Werner, Head of Energy – Sotel
In 2018/2019, 74 mini-companies participated in the program and 16 of them were selected for the national finals. The forum was an opportunity to defend their project against a jury of professionals in marketing, commerce, entrepreneurship, etc. Each group had to sell their idea and respond to questions from each other with professionalism but above all prove that their business plan was sound, that their calculations were good, their marketing operations properly targeted and also arouse interest around the object or service that ’they propose.
Following this, place the big oral!
After the forum, the students present their company in a dynamic and didactic manner to an audience of more than 300 people.
The session was opened with a speech by Mr. Claude Meisch, Minister of National Education of Childhood and Youth and Mr. Lex Delles, Minister of the Middle Classes and Tourism.
For the presentation of their company, the students seduced the public by their ease and their originality. While Power Point presentations were at the rendezvous for most projects, several groups chose quality presentation videos with a good mastery of video editing. Some even presented fully animated videos, making the presentation even more dynamic and attractive.
To finish in style, high school students, coaches and members of the jury gathered to do the traditional group photo before going to the big awards dinner.
And the winner is...
The members of the jury, including our colleague Pierre Turpel in charge of government affairs at ArcelorMittal Luxembourg, evaluated all the mini-companies presented by young Luxembourgers.
Say-it, the best mini-company 2019, will represent Luxembourg at the JA Company of the year in Lille (France) from July 3rd to 5th, 2019 thanks to their innovative B-to-B service allowing companies to know their real reputation with consumers. The approach is to address passersby in the street and via a quick and uninhibited interview to identify the consumer and make him say what he thinks without taboos, a marketing idea that may appeal to more than one.
The Brips team won the special Jury Prize thanks to the sale of chips created from unsold bread that bakeries usually have to throw at the end of the day. This idea of avoiding food waste and combining recycling, local and circular economy while using recycled and recyclable paper packaging convinced the jury. The team will have the opportunity to present their product at the Youthstart competition in Barcelona.
This edition confirmed the extent to which young people are involved in ecology. All groups wanted to put forward a project to reduce our environmental impact, whether the production is made from recycled plastic or even that the use by the end customer allows it to be less polluting.
Congratulations to all the young people who participated in the event!
About Jonk Entrepreneuren
This association aims to promote a spirit of entrepreneurship among young people in Luxembourg and encourage relationships between the business players and education. The association has a variety of programs for different ages to introduce young people to the world of work. ArcelorMittal has supported the creation of mini-companies in a competition in which school students manage a business for a year.
For ArcelorMittal Luxembourg, this is an opportunity to become known to current and future players in our company...
We wish to have an active participation in the projects, a large part of which is dedicated to sustainable development.
Pierre-Nicolas Werner, Head of Energy – Sotel