Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 May, 2022 at 12:38 pm by Andre Camilleri
EasyBeads and Plastoplex are crowned the winners at the JA Malta finals
On Saturday 14 May, the hard work of teams comprising 6th Form students participating in the post-secondary Company Programme, and teams of young entrepreneurs partaking in the tertiary level Start Up Programme, culminated in the Junior Achievement Malta (JA Malta) Awards Night held at the University Campus in Valletta.
The two winning teams were EasyBeads who won the Company of the Year Award and Plastoplex that was the winner of the Start-up of the Year Award.
The evening saw many young people receiving awards and accolades for their work over the past eight months with the respective winning teams primed to represent Malta in the European Finals this July, competing against 42 other countries.
Several Company Programme awards were distributed on the night both to teams that made to the finals, but also to teams that didn’t reach the final stage but showed promise in certain elements of their Company Programme journey.
Apollo won the ‘Deloitte Best Business Plan Award’, Virescent were awarded the ‘HSBC Green Entrepreneurship Award’, while EasyBeads took home the ‘Farsons Ready for Work’, ‘EFQ Management Quality Excellence Award’ and the ‘Atlas Digital Marketing Innovation Award’, respectively.
The finalists for the Company Programme were: Aquaponica, Bestja, BodYou, EasyBeads, Totelly, and Virescent. Virescent came in as first runner-up and BodYou took the second runner-up position.
The evening also recognised the Start-up Programme companies, namely Elev8, IrCab, Plastopex, PotCo, S.A.P, and Spring. Similarly, honours for the Start-Up Programme were awarded to teams that made the final six, but also to other teams that participated in the Start Up Programme.
The ‘HSBC ESG Sustainability Award’ and the ‘Switch Take Me to Market Award’ were presented to Spring. Start-up company Covered were awarded the ‘EY Concept Validation Award’, while College Ltd. took home the ‘Camilleri Preziosi Customer Focus Award’ and the ‘Tech.mt Digital Innovation Award’, respectively. IrCab and Spring were announced as the Start Up of the Year runners up.
Two other important awards are also presented each year – the JA Malta awards, with former JA Malta board member, Anton Borg receiving the John Harper Award, and Christian Mercieca accepting the Philip Bonnet Award for Perseverance.
In his speech, JA Malta Chairman, Chris Vassallo Cesareo explained that Malta has been listed as a model organization within JA Malta for the past four years and has won the first ever BAFCG Global Challenge award and has been nominated for the Bata Quality award.
“The role that JA Malta plays in the development of young people as they approach the working world is undeniable. JA Malta’s work is even more important in the light of the fact that the current academic system still does not place enough emphasis on certain soft skills. We must remember that the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow,” he said.
During the evening another big announcement was made by JA Malta CEO, Matthew Caruana, as he announced the rebranding of the organisation from Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta (JAYE Malta) to Junior Achievement Malta (JA Malta) to align with the JA global network.
JA Malta thanked all sponsors and supporters of the programme without whom the initiative would not be the success that it is today, specifically its Corporate Sponsors: HSBC Malta Foundation, Salesforce, The Malta Chamber, JobsPlus, Grinsens, Atlas Insurance, Microsoft, Camilleri Preziosi Advocates, and Cybergate.
Gratitude and recognition also went to all other sponsors: BusinessLabs, Farsons Group, Malta Enterprise, Santa Cristina, S. Rausi Trading Limited, Antinori, EY, Tech.mt, Switch, Deloitte, EFQ Management Consultants, and educational sponsor Oxford College of Marketing.
For more information on JA Malta and the programmes that it runs visit www.jayemalta.org
