The seven winners, 12 runners up, including Serbia, and three special mentions for the European Enterprise Promotion Awards were announced. Organisations from all 28 EU Member States as well as Iceland, Serbia and Turkey, competed for the chance to win either a specific category or the prestigious Grand Jury Prize. Initially, hundreds of projects competed in national competitions. Then 58 national winners entered the European level of competition.

The Grand Jury Prize winner came from Hungary. The project, Encouraging Business Start-ups by Mothers with Young Children, helps mothers to acquire the entrepreneurial skills and mind-set needed to start a business and run it successfully.

In Hungary, half of mothers with small children are not able to return to their job at the end of their maternity leave and employment of mothers with children under three is well below the EU average. Encouraging Business Start-ups by Mothers with Young Children is an exceptional project that helps mothers to acquire the entrepreneurial skills and mind-set to start a business and make it profitable. Since 2010, The Mother Company of the Year competition has allowed 443 mothers of young children to present their businesses whilst the Business Mums’ Conference brings together mothers who are interested in business with those who are already entrepreneurs.

Six other projects from Lithuania, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany were recognised for their work on simplifying business creation, promoting business start-ups and fostering entrepreneurial spirit. Projects from the UK, Austria and Portugal also received Special Mentions from the EEPA jury. The Awards ceremony took place today in Naples, Italy as part of the SME Assembly, the focus of European SME Week.

In the category “Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills” the winner is coming from Bulgaria – Brandiko- Training in Building a Brand and Protecting it with a Community Trade Mark educates students on how to build a brand and register the brand as a Community Trade Mark. Students establish training companies and are mentored on how to build and manage their own brand, market the brand and use it to increase sales.  Pupils also learn about the importance of intellectual property protection.  More than 1,700 students have completed the Brandiko programme.

Serbia was a runner up in this category with Western Balkans Business Challenge – a unique competition for high school students from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.  In mixed teams (4 students from each country), they compete to provide the best business idea for the challenge put before them.  The initiative develops entrepreneurial and financial skills and motives the students to think proactively. At least 1,500 students and 200 business community representatives have participated in the competition so far.

Another runner up in this category was Germany with BRENNEREI Next Generation Lab that enables master’s students and graduates to learn and develop new entrepreneurial approaches.

Organisation website:  www.ja-serbia.org