Last Monday 8th of July 2024 took place the competition on youth entrepreneurship in the Clarín Theatre of Soto del Barco, Asturias in the framework of the European Project YERAME (Youth Entrepreneurship in rural areas of Mediterranean countries) with partners from Italy, Greece, Palestine, Tunisia and Egypt.
The competition was organised by the European Projects department of Defoin with the support of the management and marketing team and in collaboration with the City Council of Soto del Barco.
We had 15 young people registered between 18 and 30 years old, 9 finalists fulfilled the requirements and attended the competition presenting 7 business ideas. The event was opened by José Manuel Lozano Mayor of Soto del Barco, DEFOIN board member Agustín Chicharro and Ohiane Uranga, coordinator of the European projects department, who presented the results and next phases of the project.
During the day, the young entrepreneurs presented their ideas and objectives in front of a professional jury, with representatives of 3 leading institutions at regional level:
- Antonio Sánchez Galán, Bajo Nalón Rural Development Group and Leader Funds representative in the
area. - Víctor Manuel Fernández Martin, Representative of La Curtidora Avilés Business Centre.
- Marián Flórez Álvarez Baragaña, Councillor for Education and Tourism, Soto del Barco Town Council.
During the deliberation of the jury, the participants had the opportunity to have a participatory session with Estefanía Conde Domínguez, a local entrepreneur who shared her experience and a talk about other sources of funding and subsidies at regional, national and European level by Ohiane Uranga. After the certificate award ceremony, the 3 winners of the competition were announced.
1st prize of 1000€ was awarded to Marina and Ana with the proposal ‘Candelada’ with which they seek to promote a business based on art therapy and artisan culture in the Bajo Nalón (Asturias).
2nd prize of €600 went to Miguel and Rodrigo, two young entrepreneurs from Avilés, with their proposal ‘COUN Europe’, a streetwear clothing brand linked to skatepark sports, and the generation of a community network among skaters at European level.
3rd prize 300€ went to Gustavo, with his proposal ‘Garrido's consulting’, linked to training in digital skills for the elderly and people with basic knowledge and the repair and recycling of digital devices and computers, he won the third prize in the competition for doing it the Garrido way!
The event has been covered by various media in the area such as:
● La Nueva España Newspaper
● Newspaper El Comercio
● News of the regional television TPA from Concejo a concejo Min
7:45
In addition to the competition the young people are participating in a free mentoring programme between June and November with 16 theoretical and practical sessions including visits to business centres, online youth exchanges and a talk with Carmen Robles from the Oviedo Chamber of Commerce about the Erasmus Young Entrepreneurs programme.
In November 2024 2 young people per country will have the opportunity to attend the closing event of the project in Palermo, Italy and meet in person other young people from Greece, Italy, Palestine, Tunisia and Egypt who are also starting their path in entrepreneurship.