Bleoo Junior Achievement Company of Accra Academy has emerged Greater Accra regional Junior Achievement (JA) Company competition champions. The goal of the JA Student Company of the Year competition is to balance the business achievements of each team as a whole and that of members’ personal development. For this year’s competition, JA Student Companies appeared before a panel of independent judges who determined a company’s performance against the competition criteria, which is then compared with other JA Companies at each stage of the competition process. “Therefore, for a team to win this award, it is not sufficient to just run a financially successful JA Company or to have created an exciting product or service. JA Company members must demonstrate that they understand how and why the company performed as it did,” a release by JA noted. The judges, selected senior Barclays Bank Ghana staff, also looked for evidence of innovation and the application of new ideas in all aspects of running the company. According to the release, the regional competition forms part of JA’s worldwide annual celebration of the achievements of membership of the various JA Companies in schools. Five teams namely Blue Nation (Presbyterian Boys Senior High School), Accessories Africa (SOS College), Mecons (Holy Trinity Cathedral Senior High School), Bleoo & Apex (Accra Academy) participated in this year’s competition. According to the Executive Director, Junior Achievement Ghana, Mr. Jefferson W. Agbai, the competition forms part of a broader initiative of Junior Achievement to bring entrepreneurship to the door step of young people through hands-on learning to encourage students to inject seriousness in their operations. Marfo Mickson Somuah, Program Assistant, Junior Achievement Ghana disclosed that two teams each from the Eastern, Western, Volta and Central will join Bleoo and Apex JA Company for the National JA Company of the Year Competition 2011. In a brief remark, the Program Communications Officer of Junior Achievement Ghana, Kwabena Gameli Kugblenu said plans were underway to enroll more schools into the program. He expressed the appreciation of Junior Achievement Ghana to Coca Cola Bottling Company, Coca Cola Equatorial Africa Limited, Nestlé Ghana Limited and Barclays Bank Ghana Limited for their contribution and support for the programme. The Program Communications Officer also appealed to other stakeholders both public and private to partner Junior Achievement Ghana to continue to ignite the interest of young people in experiencing the opportunities and realities of the 21st-century global marketplace and contribute to the health of the world economy. Source: Myjoyonline.com/Ghana