Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Every Classroom

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES This statement encapsulates the need for a free market economy to develop the next generation of business leaders. In order to secure the benefits of the social and economic transition that Bulgaria experienced a real world, hands-on business curriculum must be introduced to young people during their elementary, middle and high school years. The Young Entrepreneurial Spirit Initiative (YES) introduces business principles into education so that Bulgaria can maximize the social and economic benefits of its next generation of innovators and business leaders.

USAID INVOLVEMENT USAID launched its Young Entrepreneurial Spirit program by entering into a partnership with Junior Achievement Bulgaria (JAB) in late 2003 with the purpose of increasing the scope of action and outreach of JAB programs in the country. With USAID assistance, JAB continues to increase awareness of their activities throughout the local business community, thus attracting more donors and supporters. Finally, JAB expanded its cooperation with the international Junior Achievement network, which enables Bulgarian students to compete internationally.

GOAL Create an understanding of the entrepreneurial spirit in school age Bulgarians through public-private partnerships that merge classroom studies with real world experiences in the business community. By attracting private business interest in YES activities and creating strategic alliances, a healthy and efficient market economy in Bulgaria will be further developed, fueled by an ethical and entrepreneurial private sector competition.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION The “Young Entrepreneurial Spirit” Initiative creates a strong public-private partnership between JAB and the business community to support entrepreneurship training and student operated mini-enterprises in Bulgaria.

• Applied Economics A semester-long course emphasizing the characteristics of the free market economy, including the role of private property, the price system, competition and entrepreneurship. The text book and lesson plans provide students with lessons and activities that demonstrate fundamental economic concepts such as markets, economic incentives and opportunity costs. Students learn how economic principals influence business decisions, the government's economic roles in a market economy, the need for ethical standards in business and decision-making skills.
  
• Management And Economic Simulation Exercise (MESE) The program helps students apply the knowledge gained from their Applied Economics coursework. The computer-simulation exercise illustrates how business decisions are integrated in a successful business operation. The students must thoroughly understand and plan each element of a company's strategy price, production, marketing, plant investment, and research and development. Success depends on coordinating decisions to develop a strategy for the company that meets the challenges of a competitive market and sets it apart from its competitors.
  
• Student Company Junior Achievement's most unique and popular program is the Student Company. Students take part in the creation and operation of an actual company that will produce and market its own product. In the process, students share in the decision-making, record-keeping, marketing, and other experiences that take place in operating successful businesses.
  
• Middle Grades Program A three part program for middle school students where students learn basic economics, career assessment and job interviewing skills through Personal Economics; study how to establish and run a small business through Enterprise in Action; and they learn about international trade and global economy through the International Marketplace.
  

AWARENESS EVENTS

• Manager for a Day event Recruiting national partners from the government, business community, and media support, JAB builds bridges between young people, studying business and economics and the field of professionals to exchange knowledge, experience and ideas on personal and corporate level for early career orientation and development.
  
• International Joint Venture Company Program Event Based on the JA GLOBE program, Bulgarian students exchange products and services with international partners. A national contest selects the best student representatives for this joint venture program. Selected students will then form joint ventures with students from European and North American countries and hopefully exchange visits.
  
• Global Business Ethics Contest As a final phase of the Global Business Ethics program of Junior Achievement World, top Bulgarian students compete as national representatives in the international business ethics forum. A national contest selects representatives and involves a jury of business people during the evaluation and training process.
  
• Business Consultants Recruitment Events JAB recruits business consultants to participate in the delivery of JA’s courses. Hands-on learning and participation of volunteer business consultants in the classroom is a key component of JA entrepreneurial programs.
  
• Annual JAB Awards in Business, Economics and Entrepreneurship

^{Last updated: 25 July 2007}