January 19, 2019 – The Department of Management and Marketing (DMM) at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics (FBAE), Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU), the 4th annual “Young Entrepreneur Showdown” (YES-NDU) to identify and support the most creative and entrepreneurially-gifted children from grades 10-12 across different local schools. YES-NDU is an entrepreneurial event that aims to familiarize young people with the realities of the business world by helping them build their managerial skills, unleash their creativity, and discover new ways to tackle opportunities in small and medium-sized enterprises.
The participating schools were:
- Antonine International School, Ajaltoun;
- Collège des Frères Maristes Champville, Dik el-Mehdi;
- Antonine Sisters School Hazmieh-Jamhour;
- Collège des Saints-Coeurs Kfarhbab – SSCC;
- College Notre Dame de Louaize, Zouk Mosbeh;
- St. Joseph School (SJS), Kornet Chahwan;
Contestants attended a one-day workshop presented by faculty members at NDU who explained the competition requirements as well as the different essential disciplines needed to complete the business plan.
Divided into small teams, the contestants came up with a business idea, developed it, and presented it in front of a jury panel composed of:
- Dr. Jennifer Abou Hamad, Director, Human Resources – Faculty, Office of Human Resources;
- George Ghaleb, Chairperson, Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management - FBAE;
- Dr. Kamal Zakhour, Senior Lecturer, Department of Management and Marketing - FBAE;
- Dr. Nohade Nasrallah, Lecturer, Department of Accounting and Finance - FBAE.
Students pitched their ideas and the winners were selected based on predetermined criteria, such as feasibility of the project in Lebanon; adaptability to the local market; presentation skills; ethics; etc.
Prizes were discounts on NDU tuition fees for the first semester, with a 100% discount to the first prize winners, 75% for second prize, and a 50% discount for third prize winners.
Following deliberations, the jury announced the following winners:
- First Prize: Elissa Aswad, Giovanni Kassab, Elissa Sakr from College Notre Dame de Louaize, with “Toddlers’ Kitchen,” a catering company for young children.
- Second Prize: Rayane El Khoury. Serly Kartachian, Marie Kayrouz, from Collège Mariste Champville, with “Frankenstein Electricity,” a project which proposes a way to turn lighting in to usable electricity.
- Third Prize: Dany Joe Beaino, Pia Haddad, Clara Sairafi from Collège des Saints-Cœurs Kfarhbab-Ghazir with their project “Mommy’s Planet,” a center that caters to future, expecting, and new mothers, covering everything from psychological training on how to be good mothers, to day care and clinics.
Congratulations to all three teams for presenting fantastic projects.