Ara Hosts Entrepreneurial High School Talent For the 2020 Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) Regional Awards

In front of an audience of 200 people, the five finalists’ for each sub-region had a fresh opportunity to impress a panel of judges, making for an electrifying evening during which all of the pitching teams were in hot contention to be crowned this year’s winners.

YES brought together a highly-experienced panel of judges, which included Imogen Lomax (Customer Manager at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and Board Trustee of Dream Believe Succeed), Gerald Carter (Founder of XSTART start-up accelerator programme and Board Member of Canterbury Angels Investors) and Jamie Tulloch (Owner and Managing Director at E3 Business Accountants Limited and Co-Founder of the Brainstorm Room).

The judges read through the teams’ ‘Annual Reviews’ – a tight summary document that persuasively outlined the teams’ business strategies - and listened to their professional pitches before deliberating and reaching unanimous decisions. All of the featured pitches showcased perfectly how YES students adhere to the principle of a workable ‘quadruple bottom line’ – seeking socially, environmentally, economically and culturally sustainable outcomes - but in the end, only two winners could be chosen.

Judge Jamie Tulloch said after the final awards were given “The pitches I saw today were a level above those I saw last year, considering both the professionalism of the presentations and the ideas. Overall the judging was very close.”

mOAT from St Margaret’s College was announced the Canterbury Ōtākaro North Winner with their ‘zero waste’ sustainable oat milk which has been sold at several locations including Christchurch’s Riverside Market. The team was supported in their venture and mentored by bestselling authors and cooks ‘Two Raw Sisters’.

Flatless from FarNet took the title for Canterbury Ōtakāro South with an innovative solution to prevent mountain bike tire punctures. The two young cousins had already grabbed the attention of the media with their engaging story, which featured on the ‘What Now’ show, Prime News and The Breeze radio station as well as within several printed and online publications.  

Josh Baker from Canterbury Ōtakāro South winner ‘Flatless’ said “I really didn’t expect to win this but I’m stoked with this win! I’m ready to go to Wellington; we’re going to spend a bit more time refining our business model before then, but it’s going to be exciting.”

Excellence in specific areas of business was also recognized at the event, including three awards sponsored by Ara, the first two of which were presented by Emma West, Head of Engagement at Ara and Nigel Young, Head of Ara’s Enterprise and Digital Innovation department. The third was proudly give to Danny McNeill from Tūranga by the members of the Villa Maria College team he personally mentored.

• Ara YES Regional Excellence Award for Customer and Market Engagement – Asiana (Linwood College)
• Ara YES Regional Excellence Award for Sustainability – STAP Card (Cashmere High School)
• Ara YES Regional Distinguished Mentor – Danny McNeill
• Rotary Club of Christchurch Sunrise YES Regional Excellence Award for Social Enterprise – Helping Hand (Cashmere High School)
• Baldasso Cortese Noordanus YES Regional Excellence Award for Innovation – Eliminate Enterprise (Villa Maria College)
• E3 YES Regional Excellence Award for Finance – STAP (Cashmere High School)
• Cyclone YES Regional Excellence Award for Enterprising Technology – Devota (St Andrew’s College)

Idoia Alday Gonzalez, the YES Canterbury Regional Coordinator summed up by saying “This year, YES Canterbury (like many other organizations in NZ) had to essentially re-invent itself in the face of COVID, but we still managed to keep our delivery promise to the students. The quality of their experience was always at the forefront of our decisions as we found new ways to stay connected, deliver workshops, pitches and markets; and as a result we experienced completely the opposite of what we expected. We’ve achieved a higher percentage of student engagement and participation than in previous years as well as higher completion rates, which all goes to show the extraordinary resilience and determination of the region’s young people.”

Finally, the MCs took the opportunity to recognize the hard work of all involved in the delivery of YES in the region and emphasize the strong ongoing partnership between the scheme and Ara, saying “Thank you to all of our sponsors without which none of this would be possible: Rotary Club of Christchurch Sunrise, Baldasso Cortese Noordanus, E3 Business Accountants, Cyclone Computing Company Ltd, Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand, and Ara Institute of Canterbury.”