HP and JA-YE unveil new award to encourage young entrepreneurs to engage in responsible business

HP Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) and Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise (JA-YE) Europe will launch a new award to encourage young entrepreneurs to engage in responsible business.

The “HP Responsible Business Award” aims to build social and environmental responsibility and responsible business leadership skills among students across EMEA. The Award will be an extension of the existing JA-YE “Annual Company of the Year Competition” which gives students aged 14-18 the opportunity to prepare for working life through the experience of running their own company.

During the first year, HP and JA-YE will develop awareness-raising tools (e.g. websites, mentoring) as well as online training modules to educate students about corporate social responsibility in ten participating countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK). In addition, HP volunteers across EMEA will be available to advise students on how to make their businesses more socially responsible and environmentally friendly.

The new annual HP Responsible Business Award will be given to student companies, that do the best job at integrating the following criteria:

– Strong financial performance: showing the ability to be profitable and competitive, bring benefits to shareholders and secure long-term growth and job security.

– Social responsibility: meeting the wider concerns of stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, customers and local communities

– Environmental excellence: preventing pollution, optimizing resource efficiency and developing products with minimal environmental impacts.

Students will also have the opportunity to compete “online” with their Responsible Business ideas. The first top 10 will be awarded in 2007.

To mark the launch the first winner of the Responsible Business Award will be selected from among the contestants at the 2006 edition of the JA-YE Company of the Year Competition which is taking place in Interlaken, Switzerland from 3-6 August 2006. Judges for the Responsible Business Award will be provided by HP and winners will be selected on-site during the competition.

“HP has a long standing commitment to global citizenship and believes that entrepreneurship and micro-business development are essential for community advancement,” said Gabriele Zedlmayer, Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Global Citizenship, HP EMEA. “Through our partnership with JA-YE we have the opportunity to use our knowledge and experience to encourage tomorrow’s business leaders to incorporate social and environmental responsibility into company design and management.”

The HP Responsible Business Award is being developed through a new partnership agreement between JA-YE and HP, intensifying existing cooperation to build environmental and social responsibility with students in EMEA.

For over a decade joint activities of HP and JA-YE have included support for enterprise education programmes and special events through cash and equipment donations, as well as the participation of HP employees as volunteers in local JA-YE programmes.

“We are grateful to HP for its commitment to educating youth around the world on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and good business practice.”, said Caroline Jenner of JA-YE Europe. “Initiatives like this award are highly relevant and send an important and positive message to young people about what modern business is all about.”