The ideal outcome of the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) is that senior secondary students will come up with a product or service with genuine market appeal. And the five students from around the Far North who formed Dr Gripper this year are on the threshold of achieving just that.
The company founded by the teenage surfers to find a better way of waxing their boards scooped the top prize at the awards presented at Waitangi last week, and might well be poised for global success.
The company's five directors - Jamie Plowman (Takou Bay), Titouan Lamouric (Cable Bay), Cheyanne Donnelly (Kerikeri), Mathew Carr (Kerikeri) and Chance August (Kaikohe) - aged 14 to 16, collected the overall award for best company for Springbank School against some very strong opposition.
The YES programme sees high school students across the country set up companies, create products or services and make real-life profits or losses.
The Springbank students came up with the idea for Dr Gripper, patches of self-adhesive surfboard wax, after brainstorming about the problems they faced as surfers and possible solutions. They have now been granted an international patent, and have had talks with adhesives company 3M.
Dr Gripper also picked up awards for communication and technology at Waitangi last week, while chief executive Chance August was one of only five students in the country to reach the finals of the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants Managing Director of the Year Award.
Chance and the rest of the team will head to Wellington for the YES national awards on December 4.
YES Northland co-ordinator Gary Larkan said the standard of entries this year was extremely high.
His goal was to see at least one company each year become a significant business, and that was a real possibility for Dr Gripper, which had even senior executives at 3M excited.
"They've patented it, they've done all the right things, and there's nothing else like it on the marketplace. It's definitely got legs, as long as they keep running with it," he said.
All but two of the awards went to Far North schools, the Bay of Islands making a clean sweep of the Company of the Year category.
The winners were:
Top Energy Award for Northland YES Company of the Year - Dr Gripper, Springbank School 1; Inovatus, Kerikeri High School (carry handle for shopping bags) 2; Today I Am, Kerikeri High School (vegan hair dye) 3.
NorthTec Award for Excellence in Business Management - Keep it Kool, Whangarei Girls' High School (stain removal kit).
Northern Advocate Award for Excellence in Communication - Dr Gripper.
Gilmore Brown Award for Excellence in Financial Management - Inovatus.
NorthPower Award for Excellence in Technology - Dr Gripper.
Dave Templeton Award for Commitment - Silver Lining Enterprises, Bream Bay College (Smarty Pants exam study pack).
Manaaki Solutions Award for Best Maori YES Company - Today I Am.
NOT JUST ANOTHER COURSE
This was the fourth year that Top Energy had sponsored the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) throughout Northland, in partnership with The Lion Foundation, and CEO Russell Shaw took the opportunity at last week's awards presentations to say once again that the lines company saw the money as very well invested.
"We support this programme because we know it offers our young people a powerful, hands-on learning experience," he said.
"To the Young Enterprise students it's not 'just another academic course', it's a powerful learning experience which gives them real and invaluable insights into how business and commerce work."
The students who took part this year had demonstrated innovation and flair, and had coped well with the everyday challenges of running a business.
"I've been hugely impressed by the determination and commitment many have shown in driving their business plans forward," Mr Shaw said.