NEW YORK, May 31, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Junior Achievement of New York is pleased to announce the six high school teams who will advance to the final round of the 4th Annual Junior Achievement of New York Business Plan Competition (BPC), presented by the NASDAQ OMX Education Foundation. A record number of business plan submissions were submitted this year by over 180 high school student teams.
A photo accompanying this release is available at
The semi-final round of the Business Plan Competition was hosted on May 26th at Columbia Business School. Nearly 50 semi-finalists spent a day giving their best business sales pitch to a panel of top business professionals and entrepreneurs. Up until this point, over 900 high school students participated in an eight-week classroom-based, business plan writing boot-camp, where they were coached by corporate volunteers from diverse business sectors. The final six teams have survived several rounds of competition requiring them to pitch their winning business ideas to seasoned business executives and entrepreneurs, with the ultimate goal of being singled out as having the next big winning business idea that could put them on the pathway to success.
The six finalist teams will battle it out in a final lightening round to be held on June 2nd at NASDAQ MarketSite, Times Square. The top three student teams will receive monetary awards ranging from $1,000-$3,000 per team member. The students' business ideas will be evaluated by a panel of business experts: Charles H. Perl, President, Outfront Inc.; William Halbert, retired marketing executive and serial entrepreneur; Patricia Urban, Associate Vice President of Human Resources at NASDAQ OMX and Joanne Zaiac, President Digitas NY Region. The JA New York Business Plan Competition has a history of attracting the support of top business executives from companies such as Turner Sports and Entertainment, MetLife, and G. C. Andersen Partners among others.
The BPC curriculum is designed to enhance critical academic and professional development skills that set students up for life-long success, such as: learning how to work in and manage teams, and developing research, communications and presentation skills. Through Junior Achievement's experiential entrepreneurship education programs, including and apart from the Business competition, students receive real-world work experience helping them become prepared and confident to dive into their future professional careers as innovators, businesspeople and problem solvers
Follow the Junior Achievement of New York Business Plan Competition updates on Twitter (@JANewYork), on Facebook (JA New York/My Achievement) and in LinkedIn (Junior Achievement of New York Group). JA New York will be posting live updates from the final round of the competition at NASDAQ MarketSite, Times Square, on June 2, 2011. Follow and RT/RP our updates: #JANewYorkBPC.
Junior Achievement of New York congratulates the following high school Business Plan Competition finalist teams:
About Junior Achievement of New York
For more than 80 years, Junior Achievement of New York (JA New York), the local affiliate of JA USA, has delivered economic education and empowerment programs to NYC and Long Island students. Through a dedicated volunteer network of corporate and community individuals, JA New York provides high-quality K-12 in-school, after-school, and summer educational programs. JA New York educational programs impact important societal issues including youth development, economic development, and education reform, and focus on three key content areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. For more information about JA New York and its programs, Visit us: www.jany.org Like Us: Facebook Connect with Us: LinkedIn Follow Us: Twitter Subscribe to Us: YouTube
About The NASDAQ OMX Education Foundation:
The mission of The NASDAQ OMX Educational Foundation is to promote learning about capital formation, financial markets and entrepreneurship through innovative educational programs. It was established in New York City in 1994 and is supported entirely by contributions from The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
The photo is also available via AP PhotoExpress.
CONTACT: PRESS CONTACTS: Jacqueline Dolly Junior Achievement of New York (212) 907-0046 (office) jdolly@jany.org Robert Madden The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (646) 441-5045 (office) (347) 740-8191 (mobile) Robert.Madden@NASDAQOMX.com