The 2014 Free State enterPRIZE Job Creation Challenge announced that they have shortlisted over one hundred applicants as part of the challenge’s first phase.
These applicants will move into the next phase of the challenge where they will be taught invaluable presentation skills and ultimately stand a chance to realise their business aspirations.This exciting competition is aimed at job creation through the development of small and medium enterprises in the Free State.
The competition which is a partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DETEA), the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and the Flemish International Cooperation Agency (FICA), will see contestants compete to win one of 75 prizes totaling R 7.5 million.
“We are extremely pleased with the amount of entries received. When we started this initiative in 2013 and received 549 applications. This year we received 768 excellent proposals from numerous sectors which we evaluated according to job creation, growth potential, sustainability, market demand, innovation as well as relevant expertise. We managed to narrow these down to 121 applicants who will move on to the next phase of the challenge,” explains ILO National Project Coordinator Winnie Sereeco.
The shortlisted applications will take part in a one-day training workshop at the University of the Free State (UFS) designed to teach them useful presentation skills to present their business cases. Thereafter, their business case will be moved onto the third phase of the Free State enterPRIZE Job Creation Challenge where they will be required to present their business plans to a panel of judges at UFS.
The winners and runner ups will share of R7.5 million in prizes, in different categories. These prizes will be announced at a glittering gala dinner on 19 June. Additional support and prizes will be provided by sponsors who include Nedbank, Microsoft, Deloitte, Blue Pencil, Microsoft BizSpark, Free State Agriculture, PETCO, Gramercy Millennium Group, Development Franchising, Sport for All, PVC, New Africa, UFS, Cut, Inobits and ViGO.
The Free State enterPRIZE Job Creation Challenge is a partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DETEA), the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and the Flemish International Cooperation Agency (FICA).
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