New Visions Business Academy Students to Compete at Junior Achievement’s National Student Leadership Summit

Local group of teen entrepreneurs will go head-to-head against 14 other teams in virtual business competition

Binghamton, NY– Thirteen Junior Achievement of Central Upstate New York (JACUNY) students have been selected as one of 15 finalist teams to compete at the virtual Junior Achievement National Student Leadership Summit (NSLS). The students will compete in the three-day event, June 22-24, against other teen entrepreneurs from across the United States.

The students represent New Visions Business Academy. They founded 13 Visionaries as part of their participation in JA Company Program^®, in which high school students start and run a real business enterprise under the guidance of a volunteer from the local business community. The teens devise a product designed to fill an unmet consumer need, produce and market their product or service, and recruit investors for their company. The New Visions Business Academy team created a face mask spray bundle they called “Stay Refreshed.”

The team also has advanced as one of five finalists for the ICE NYSE Best Financial Performance Award, one of the awards to be presented at the NSLS event. The competition’s top honor is JA Company of the Year, first-, second-, and third-place awards will be presented Livestreamed on June 24. The student companies will be assessed on their financial performance, individual team members’ personal and professional development, on a self-produced commercial about their product or service, on their team’s live presentation to a panel of business leaders, and on their company’s performance.

In addition to competing, JA Company Program^® students will build their professional network with fellow teens from across the country, participate in professional development seminars to further build on their entrepreneurial skills, and will have the opportunity to engage with national experts in innovation, entrepreneurship, and business through virtual webinars.

About Junior Achievement ^® (JA)

Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers, and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. Today, JA reaches more than 3 million students annually in 105 markets across the United States. Junior Achievement of Central Upstate New York (JACUNY) delivers programming to students in a 25-county region throughout Central and Update New York State. To learn more about JA of Central Upstate New York, visit www.jacuny.org