Business plan competition "next generation vol. 9":
"Young entrepreneurs" impress with innovative ideas
- Every year for the last nine years and in conjunction with Bank Austria, the AplusB foundation centres, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and Young Industry, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education and Women's Affairs has been inviting students to develop business ideas and present them in the form of business plans
- This year's winners were from the federal states of Lower Austria and Tyrol
- A group of BHAK Ybbs students won in the category "best business idea" with their sustainable concept for organic farmers, land owners and hobby gardeners to produce "terra preta" (black earth)
- The winner of the "best business plan" category was BHAK Imst for their innovative approach to improving water distribution for preventing fires
- New participation record with more than 500 applications – altogether more than 500 teams from Austria, South Tyrol, Albania and Bulgaria participated in the 2014/2015 school year
- The competition will continue in the forthcoming school year too
The "next generation" business plan competition took place for the ninth time this year and is a fixture in the schedules of vocational education and training schools and colleges. The competition is designed to raise awareness for the topic of business start-ups, particularly regarding entrepreneurial thinking and behaviour as well as personal responsibility and students' commitment. The competition's award ceremony this year took place on 24 April at Bank Austria in Innsbruck.
"Every year we encourage students to apply with innovative ideas to the categories of 'best business plan' and 'best business idea'. The aim is to understand economic correlations, develop business ideas and present them in the form of a business plan. What is most important here is to create a professional business plan and exploit students' creative potential", explains Martin Wegscheider from BHAK Imst.
Helmut Bernkopf, Bank Austria Director for Private and Corporate Customers: "Students today are the entrepreneurs of tomorrow! As the leading Austrian Bank for corporate customers we naturally want to support company start-ups and young entrepreneurs in the best way from the very beginning. The business plan competition is an ideal platform to inspire students and raise their awareness for the topic of business start-ups. Additionally we offer coaching sessions with our corporate relationship managers at each business plan competition in all federal states.
"GramahaTerra" from BHAK Ybbs took first place in the category of "best business plan". They were able to convince the jury with their sustainable concept for organic farmers, land owners and hobby gardeners to produce black earth ("terra preta"). "Tiregional" from BHAK Imst ended up in second place. Their idea to produce regional products and sell them in the training company displayed the commitment of the junior company. Team "Lichtblick" from the Business School in Bezau with their idea of a candle museum in Dornbirn as well as a group of students from BHAK Liezen with their gourmet restaurant, "Running Austria", specialised in Austrian cuisine, shared third place in the category of "best business plan".
First place in the category of "best business idea" went to BHAK Imst. Team "Fire Control" impressed with their innovative approach to improving water distribution for fire prevention. A group of students from the Business High School in Sofia, Bulgaria took second place with their business idea of "smart charger", a charging station for mobile devices. The third place was shared by students from the Business School in Bezau with their "dresscode" idea and the VBS Florisdorf from Vienna with "Austrian delights", which exhibited an innovative spirit with their mobile bus restaurant and café.
Enquiries: Bank Austria Media Relations Austria
Martin Kammerer, Tel. +43 (0) 50505 - 52803
E-Mail: martin.kammerer@unicreditgroup.at