The Foundation implements its tasks by, inter alia, organizing various competitions: granting awards for outstanding achievements in the theory of economics and finance, awarding promising microbusinesses and honoring Polish companies growing in foreign markets and foreign companies investing in Poland or supporting local and regional initiatives in the area of enterprise and financial education.
Microentrepreneur of the Year is a competition organized by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation with the support of the Microfinance Centre for Central and Eastern Europe and the Coalition for Microentrepreneurship.
Goals
The idea of the competition is to support entrepreneurship, encourage people to set up their own businesses, and recognize and promote the best among them as examples of effective business activities.
Entrepreneurs who employ fewer than 10 employees and whose annual turnover or annual balance sheet total of their businesses does not exceed EUR 2 million are eligible to enter the competition.
Competition Categories
The contest participants may win the main prize - the title Microentrepreneur of the Year - and category awards, depending on the age of a company. The youngest businesses are eligible to compete in the START category, middle-aged companies in the PROGRES category and the mature ones in the SENIOR category. Since 2015, the Contest Jury has also been awarding a prize in the special category - YOUNG BUSINESS - for 'under 30' microentrepreneurs.
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Evaluation Criteria
The Award Committee will evaluate:
- the idea for the business and its evolution, the ability to overcome crises and difficulties in setting up and developing the business;
- innovation in comparison to similar businesses;
- business development strategy;
- impact on the family, local community and membership of business organizations;
- the key brand of the business (the main product or service and the methods for its promotion and distribution).
Among all entries submitted, the winner will be selected who will receive the main prize of PLN 40,000 and the exclusive right to use the Microentrepreneur of the Year title.
In addition, prizes will be awarded in four categories - START, PROGRESS, SENIOR and YOUNG BUSINESS. Each of the winning businesses will receive PLN 10,000.
If the quality of the businesses entered for the competition is high, the Award Committee reserves the right to award additional prizes.
Competition Partner
Patronage
Coalition for Microentrepreneurship
Media Partners
The Emerging Market Champions Competition is organized by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation to select and applaud the leaders of entrepreneurship in Poland.
Objectives
The Emerging Market Champions Competition intends to promote companies which successfully expand their business operations abroad. The Emerging Market Champions Award is presented both to Polish companies which operate internationally and to emerging market entities, which are successfully investing in Poland, thus creating new jobs and boosting the economic development of the country. By distinguishing both Polish and foreign companies, we want them to become role models and a source of inspiration for other entrepreneurs to scale up their businesses.
Project execution
Competition entries can be submitted only by way of nomination by the Council of Experts-a group of business leaders associated with Polish economy and business who were invited by the organizer. In order to be eligible to participate in the contest, the company must have a track record of at least three years on the market. Also, its operations should extend to more than one country.
In the Polish foreign investments category, the following are evaluated:
- the geographical extent of business operations;
- the scale of foreign investments.
The main focus in the Foreign investments in Poland category are:
- the scale of investments in Poland;
- the number of jobs created in Poland.
Awards Gala
The Awards Gala is held at the European Forum for New Ideas in Sopot.
Survey
The project is accompanied by an annual survey of the business climate in Poland and the global potential of Polish companies. Its aim is to identify the key factors which translate into a company's success abroad.
