BALLYWOOL is the Company of the Year 2019 Winner!

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JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT 2019 COMPANY OF THE YEAR COMPETITION
BALLYWOOL is the Company of the Year 2019 Winner

Continuing its efforts to encourage entrepreneurial thinking and innovation in schools, Junior Achievement
Cyprus (JA Cyprus) hosted last Friday the 2019 Company of the Year Competition Finale. The Finale that was
attended by over 400 guests, represented the culmination of the efforts of 500 students, aged 15-18, who
created and ran their own student company over the past school year. The competition proved that young
students not only have original ideas but can also run a successful business.

During this special event, 10 finalists – out of 52 student companies created under the JA 2018-2019 Company
Programme – pitched their entrepreneurial ideas to a panel of judges in an attempt to secure the title of
‘Company of the Year‘. Apart from the main title of ’Company of the Year‘, and the first and second runner-up
awards, the student entrepreneurs received signature awards for their achievements in key areas of
entrepreneurial activities.

This year, the title of “the Company of the Year” went to Ballywool, a student company from Acropoleos
Lyceum. The company, created handmade, eco-friendly, reusable balls for clothes dryers, made from 100%
wool. Due to their material and their spherical shape, they decrease the drying time. This results in energy and
cost savings

CanTeens, a student company from the English School of Nicosia, came second in the contest. CanTeens team
created an app available on ios and android devices where students can pre order food from their school
canteen at the time they want and pay online or during pickup.

Olivizer is a project by students from Latsia Lyceum which was ranked third. The team members produced an
organic fertilizer of olive kernels combined with an organic plastic that acts as a second fertilizer.
The winners of Signature Awards were:

  •  BEST EXHIBITION STAND AWARD – 1 st Day Hive (Archangel St Marks Lyceum)
    2 nd Day Paleo (G C School of Careers)
  • BEST LOGO AWARD – Smelia (Idaliou Lyceum)
  •  BEST SELLING PRODUCT/SERVICE AWARD – Voice4me (The English School Nicosia)
  •  MOST INNOVATIVE PRODUCT / SERVICE AWARD – BDI (Grammar School Nicosia)
  •  BEST BRANDING AND DIGITAL COMMUNICATION AWARD – Paleo (G C School of Careers)
  •  BEST COMPANY REPORT AWARD – Ballywool (Acropoleos Lyceum)
  •  PHOENIX AWARD – IASI (PASCAL Private English School Larnaka)
  •  AstroBank BEST VIDEO AD AWARD – Thro N’ Gro (Lykeio Archiepiskopou Makariou III – Dasoupoli)
  • ExxonMobil BEST COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD – StrawVision (AMERICAN ACADEMY LARNACA)

This year’s Finale was under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Nicos Anastasiades. Present at the event were Mr Kyriacos Kokkinos, the Chief Scientist for Research and Innovation, Mrs Klelia Vasiliou, Deputy Government Representative, Dr. Kyprianos Louis, Deputy General Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Mr Constantinos Karageorgis, Senior Officer, Head of Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, as well as a number of  executives from the industry and business scene of Cyprus.

Ballywool will travel to Lille France in July 2019 to represent Cyprus at the JA Europe Company of the Year Competition.

JA Cyprus is supported by the following:

• Strategic Partner: AstroBank
• Partners: Cyta, PwC Cyprus,ExxonMobil Cyprus
• Supporters: MetLife, University of Nicosia
• Institutional Partner: Ministry of Education and Culture

For more information visit the JA Cyprus website (www.jacyprus.org) or contact Emily Sotiriou on 97-715909 or via email at emily.sotiriou@jacyprus.org