Colorado Springs, Colo. – On July 20 in Minneapolis, Junior Achievement selected “Healthy Hands”— formed by a team of 15 teen entrepreneurs from Calgary, Alberta, Canada —the winners of the 2010 North American JA Company of the Year Competition. The event was co-presented by FedEx and Best Buy, with additional sponsorships from HP and Sam’s Club.

Healthy Hands, comprised of Junior Achievement students from Henry Wise Wood Senior High School, bested 23 other student companies by demonstrating superior performance and innovation. Healthy Hands took popular hand-sanitizing products to the next level by packaging the hand sanitizer with soap, an instructional booklet and a UV-sensitive lotion that revealed dirt left behind on hands washed with traditional soap. Healthy Hands was able to generate a 734 percent return on investment for its shareholders, while donating half its net revenue to local charities.

Second-place honors went to Puré Vita, an Edmonton, Alberta-based Junior Achievement student company that also produced a hand sanitizer, and targeted hotels and conferences with their environmentally friendly product. Puré Vita was able to generate net profits which more than doubled their initial projections, and donated $3,800 (Canadian) to local charities.

Third place was won by “F.A.B.” (Future Associates of Business) from Tulsa, Oklahoma. They made and sold hair ribbons, and donated 80 percent of their net profits to The Autism Center of Tulsa.

The annual North American JA Company of the Year Competition is a contest of business skills, ingenuity and innovation that focuses on the accomplishments of U.S. and Canadian JA Company Program© students, ages 15-19, during the 2009-2010 academic year. Currently impacting more than 360,000 young people a year globally, JA Company Programguides students to start and run their own business, developing and marketing a product or service with help of a local business volunteer. Through qualification rounds, finalists ultimately are selected to showcase their business acumen before a panel of independent judges who evaluate each student company’s annual report, business presentation, trade booth display and interview performance.

“The North American JA Company of the Year Competition is an exciting opportunity for Junior Achievement students to demonstrate the teamwork, leadership and innovative thinking that will help them drive success in the business world,” said Sean C. Rush, president and chief executive officer of JA Worldwide®. “Through this competition, Junior Achievement and sponsors Best Buy, FedEx and HP are enhancing the relevancy of education and igniting the spark in young people to experience and realize the opportunities and realities of work in a 21st-century global marketplace. As a stakeholder in the future, I am inspired and reassured by the passion and professionalism demonstrated by these young entrepreneurs.”