Two Southland Students Set For Business Field Trips To Latin America
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Two Southland students have been selected for one of three overseas business field-trips to Latin America later this year.
Ben McIntyre (James Hargest College) will travel to Chile and Jake Nicholson (Mount Aspiring College) to Columbia along with 22 other YES students who have been selected to travel to Latin America after successfully competing at the Entrepreneurs in Action (EIA) business competition over the weekend.
One of the ways the Southland Chamber contributes to a positive future for business is by delivering The Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) across Southland and the Lakes District on behalf of the Young Enterprise Trust.
The Chamber has been involved in the YES programme since 1990. The programme encourages innovation and provides foundation business skills for the next generation of business leaders.
YES Southland Regional Co-ordinator Joanne O’Connor said “We have a great track record for fresh thinking initiatives and these trips are an investment in young New Zealanders; to enhance their intercultural business acumen, understanding of the importance of Latin America to New Zealand’s future, and to inspire them to be the next generation of young entrepreneurs.”
The overseas trips are part of a partnership between Young Enterprise and the Latin America Centre for Asia Pacific Excellence (CAPE). The Latin America CAPE’s innovative mobility programmes will give these young Kiwis a deeper knowledge and understanding of Latin America, the New Zealand business ecosystems in the region and a variety of New Zealand businesses operating in Chile, Colombia and Brazil.
On these trips the students will learn about Latin American culture and business. They will meet local entrepreneurs, including those involved in some of our trade relationships. They will experience site visits to established companies and start-ups, and most excitingly, they will work with local students on thought-provoking business challenges.
At Entrepreneurs in Action, teams competed in two back-to-back challenges relating to product innovation and market entry strategy, orchestrated by sponsors Genesis Energy NZ, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. Members of the winning team for each challenge won a $3000 scholarship to Massey University, and the winning team of the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Challenge on Day 2 were awarded the trip to Brazil in December. Winners of the trips to Chile (October) and Colombia (January) were chosen individually and were selected based on their performance over the weekend, and a supplementary video application.