SIT Committed To Supporting Youth Entrepreneurs

Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) are committed to building a pipeline of entrepreneurial-minded young people who will boost the prosperity in New Zealand through sponsorship of The Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) in Southland.

SIT recently signed on to continue their sponsorship of YES Southland for a further two years. SIT Chief Executive, Penny Simmonds said that SIT is happy to continue supporting this initiative due to the growing needs within the community.

“Invercargill is in the phase of new inner-city developments and will need young entrepreneurs to contribute to the development of Invercargill and the wider Southland region.”

Over 4,000 New Zealand high school students are expected to launch their own business while taking part in YES this year. Locally, there will be around 130 Year 12 and Year 13 students involved.

YES is all about helping students unleash their inner entrepreneur, and as a result, students created over 1,000 companies in 2019. Many of these companies made a profit, and about 20% of them are still operating.

The first event of the YES year involves students brainstorming business ideas and talking about them with business leaders.

Locally, YES is coordinated by the Southland Chamber of Commerce with the support of regional partner SIT. Other local sponsors include Craigs Design & Print, South Port NZ Limited, Findex, What’s on Invers, COIN South, Environment Southland, Community Trust South, and Invercargill Licensing Trust.