Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Industry-University Cooperation Entrepreneurship Education Center and the LINC Project Group jointly organized the 2013 Youth Social Enterprise Start-up Academy, which concluded its five-week (six-session) program with a completion ceremony on May 31, 2013 (Friday).

The completion ceremony was attended by President Seo Geoseok, Jang Sang-jin, Deputy Mayor of Jeonju, Lee Seong-hee, Head of the Jeonju Branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Jang Gil-ho, Director of the Jeollabuk-do Economic and Trade Promotion Agency, as well as other officials including 10 representatives of social enterprises and 52 academy participants.

Now in its second year, the Youth Social Enterprise Start-up Academy was launched to help creative and enterprising JBNU students and local youth identify social enterprise models and lay the groundwork for start-ups.

At the completion ceremony, awards were presented to five of the ten participating teams in recognition of their creative ideas and outstanding model development. The grand prize received the JBNU President's Award, the top prize received the Jeonju Mayor's Award, and three Excellence Awards were presented to teams, which received the Jeonju Mayor's Award, the Award from the Head of the Jeonju Branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and the Award from the Director of the Jeollabuk-do Economic and Trade Promotion Agency, respectively.

The grand prize was awarded to the Dream Knock team members Eom Han-gyeol (majoring in Industrial Information Systems Engineering), Lee Seong-jun (majoring in Industrial Information Systems Engineering), and Lee Jun-hyeong (Department of Electronic Engineering, Ajou University).

Through this academy, participants deepened their understanding of social enterprises, identified and addressed the issues they face, and developed strategies for mutual development between social enterprises and young university students. Based on the know-how gained, they plan to participate in the Social Venture Competition jointly hosted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, aiming to achieve significant results.

In addition, the Entrepreneurship Education Center at JBNU plans to nurture teams formed by academy participants into start-up clubs and support them so they can continue social enterprise start-up activities through club activities.