Laois to be well represented at Student Enterprise National Final this week
Students from St. Mary’s CBS and Portlaoise College will compete at the event
Students from Laois will proudly take part in the Student Enterprise National Final in the Mullingar Park Hotel on May 9.
This is the first time Ireland’s largest student entrepreneurial programme will be held in the Midlands with over 80 of Ireland’s brightest young entrepreneurial minds competing.
St. Mary’s CBS and Portlaoise College will be representing Laois at the event. In the Senior Category is David Reddin & John Phelan with their project Steady Wine from St Mary`s CBS, Portlaoise. David and John made handcrafted, personalised wooden holders for wine bottles and glasses with a very innovative self-standing bottle holder utilising their physics knowledge.
In the Intermediate Category, Amina Adnan from Portlaoise College will showcase her project Eternity Cosmetics. Amina makes long lasting perfume with natural ingredients and in the Junior Category by Olivia Przepiora with her project Via`s Jewellery from Portlaoise College. Olivia makes unique nickel-free resin earrings and is selling in a local pharmacy.
The initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices has seen almost 400,000 secondary school students take part since it began in 2003. The 81 shortlisted businesses will exhibit at the National Finals where winners will be announced across the three categories of senior, intermediate and junior and one business will be named Student Enterprise of the Year for 2024.
Michael Nevin, Chair of the Local Enterprise Offices’ Enterprise Education Committee, said; “Year on year we see an amazing spread of businesses from across the country in our National Finals. The interest in entrepreneurship and the skills that come with it is increasing. Last year we had one of our biggest participation figures for the programme with over 28,000 taking part. These students are hugely engaged with the challenges of creating and running a business and not only that but they want to create businesses that will make a difference in the world. And whatever the finals and the future hold for these students, these skills will stand by them.”
The Student Enterprise Programme is open to students of all ages at senior level, with three separate categories - Junior (1st year), Intermediate (2nd and 3rd year) and Senior (4th, 5th and 6th year, LVA, LCA and Youth Outreach). There are also a number of prizes that recognise achievements across specific categories – including the “Best Business Website”, “Sustainability Award”, the “Smart Business Idea”, the “My Entrepreneurial Journey”, “Finance Award”, “Technology Award” and “Intellectual Property”
The entrepreneurial journey for many does not end when the National Final wraps up each year. Many go on to make their mark on the business world both in Ireland and overseas across many sectors.