Opportunity Hamilton

Young Enterprise Scheme

The Smart Waikato Trust is the regional co-ordinator of the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES).

The scheme encourages Year 12 and 13 secondary school students to work in teams to create and run a company during the school year.

Throughout the year, participants get to set up a company, invest real money, design & produce real products or services and make profits. It’s a great way for older teens to learn about setting goals, decision making, team work, financial literacy, risk management, time management and communication.

YES enables students to learn about setting up and operating a business, while at the same time collect credits towards their NCEA certificate. Through first-hand experience of business and financial planning, sales and marketing, business communication and production, they stand, proud to be called 'tomorrow's entrepreneurs'.

For more details, please contact Mary Jensen, Smart Waikato.

Hamilton is New Zealand’s largest inland city, and 4th largest urban area. Hamilton is on the main tourist route between Auckland and Taupo. Hamilton is the heart of the Waikato. Hamilton has a land area of 98.6 km2 (New Zealand's smallest city in terms of land area). The average age in Hamilton is 31.3 years compared to 35.9 years nationally. Hamilton has a youthful population - around half of residents are under 30 years old. New Zealand European makes up three quarters of the population, and Maori 19%. Hamilton is home to more than 80 ethnic groups from 65 countries. Over half of all New Zealanders (53 percent) were living in four main urban areas (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Christchurch) at 30 June 2009. As at February 2008 there were 12,476 small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hamilton. This figure accounted for 94% of the total number of businesses in Hamilton. SMEs contribution to employment in Hamilton stands at 33% which equates to 25,810 employees. The growth of SMEs in Hamilton city between 2000 and 2008 was 31% which is above the 25% percent growth recorded in the rest of New Zealand over the same time period. Hamilton is the home of the mighty Chiefs and Waikato rugby teams and the 26,000 capacity Waikato Stadium. Hamilton will host 3 matches in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Hamilton hosted the New Zealand round of the prestigious V8 Supercar Championship in the city for the second year in 2009. The inaugural race in April 2008 attracted 172,000 attendees plus 5,000 people associated with the running of the event. The event generated $28.3 million of new money into the local economy in the first year and is estimated to generate $156 million over the seven years that the event will run.