Reward the courage of young entrepreneurs and managers who innovate by giving them the opportunity to share their story and have financial support to hire new resources in the company. This is what Unioncamere is proposing with the "Young Business Innovators" Award, the tender for which, open until 4 May, is available online at www.innovatoridimpresa.it.
The initiative, part of the We4Italy project (the online platform that includes activities and tools aimed at enhancing the sharing of stories and projects of young entrepreneurs), is aimed at companies managed or led by young entrepreneurs under the age of 40 who are particularly distinguished by their ability to introduce new ideas capable of improving the economic and productive performance of the company or the quality of life of the people who work there, or which have generated advantages on the territory and on the market in which the company operates or have shared within the supply chain and/or a business network. The winning companies will benefit from a co-financing of 38 thousand euros which will have to be used for hiring new collaborators.
"With this initiative, Unioncamere intends to support the value of youth businesses as a resource for the country's economic growth, increasing the visibility and reputation of innovative businesses" underlines the president of Unioncamere, Ferruccio Dardanello. “Our goal is to accompany companies in enhancing their talent, activating virtuous mechanisms for the dissemination of corporate best practices capable of stimulating further innovation, widespread competitiveness and the creation of new projects in the area. This is because we strongly believe in the value and quality of those 650 companies that exist today in the country born from the courage and talent of our young people".
Companies from all economic sectors (including non-profits, associations and foundations) with registered offices in Italy, registered in the Business Register or present in the REA (Economic Administrative Directory) and present on the web with an internet site and/or or on social networks. The application must be presented by a young entrepreneur or manager/company executive under the age of 40 who has personally distinguished himself in the company nominated for the award by becoming a promoter and/or facilitator of an innovation process. The Prize is also open to several companies that present themselves in a single group which may also include foreign companies, as well as professionals, public entities, universities, research centers and the like, including foreign ones.
To participate in the Award, you must submit your application via the website www.innovatoridimpresa.it by 4 May 2014.
There are three awards:
1) Award "Enterprise innovation ecosystem" intended to the best innovation in business and personal services, with a significant social and cultural impact (innovations in services to citizens, welfare, environmental services, hospitality, tourism and cultural heritage, etc.);
2) Award "New Made in Italy" reserved for the best application of new technologies, processes, tools or the application of research results to the fields of Made in Italy: (fashion, handicrafts, agri-food, mechanics, household goods, furniture, etc.);
3) Award "Connective company” for the best business innovation with a strong “connective” value. In this context, innovations in logistics, communication services, as well as spaces and tools for collaboration between companies (both physical and virtual) are considered.
A further mention will be reserved for the "Finalist in the Business Innovators Award", which can be attributed to innovative companies which, despite not being winners in any category, have passed the first selection phase by the Technical Jury and have characterized by particular innovation and impact.
The three companies which, at the end of the evaluation, will be the winners of the respective Prizes will benefit from a co-financing to cover the costs necessary to guarantee the collaboration and/or hiring for one year of one or more collaborators capable of increasing the contents of the innovation rewarded. The co-financing covers the coverage of 70% of the costs relating to the recruitment and/or professional collaboration recognized for each single awarded company, up to a maximum value of 38.000 Euros (net of any tax and social security contributions) for each company.
The applications will be examined by a Jury made up of Unioncamere personnel, technicians and/or consultants and/or authoritative representatives of the institutional, academic, journalistic and business world. The Jury will also take into account the "Network vote" obtained by the individual finalist innovations that will be indicated on the platform www.innovatoridimpresa.it, according to the procedure described on the same site. The weight of the "Network vote" will be equal to 15% of the total vote.
The winners of the Award will be announced during a special award ceremony organized by Unioncamere on the occasion of Economy Day, scheduled for 5 June.
