The programme offers young people of up to 30 years of age
additional knowledge and training of their business skills, and improves
their chances of employment. Partners in the project are the BTC
Company, the Employment Service of Slovenia and the Centre of Business
Excellence of the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Economics.

The aim of the programme is to help individuals enter the world of
business and creativity, improve their professional skills and
strengthen their confidence when seeking employment or encourage them to
realize their own business ideas by networking and offering advice as
well as practical knowledge in the field of business.

With help from the Employment Service of Slovenia, 30 graduates, who
have completed different higher education programmes and are now looking
for their first job or want to start their own business, have been
selected. The programme consists of 12 modules and lasts three months.
Lectures and workshops organized by lecturers of Ljubljana’s Faculty of
Economics will take place three hours a week. During this time, the
participants will gain basic business knowledge and skills, such as
planning, accounting, communicating and marketing. The programme also
focuses on networking and will introduce the participants to different
institutions, such as development centres, business incubators and
start-ups.

“Knowledge and cooperation are key values of our faculty, and a
project such as BTC Campus successfully links them together while also
representing an entry point into the actual world of business. It
presents graduates and students with an easier path toward their first
employment, as well as a familiarization with the demands of and changes
in commerce and industry, which require them to be highly knowledgeable
and competent. Similar projects are undertaken by our faculty,
encouraging young people to make use of the knowledge they have gathered
as well as being an informal means to attain new knowledge. With these
projects, I have noticed a significant change: the graduates manage to
alter their mindsets and be capable of proactive cooperation in the face
of the negative consequences of high unemployment figures,” said the dean of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Ljubljana, prof. dr. Metka Tekavčič in her keynote address.

Damjan Kralj, MA, management board member and marketing director of the BTC Company,
in his motivating speech marking the beginning of this year’s project,
said that the goal of all project partners was to inspire young people
and lend them a helping hand in times when the economy does not look
kindly upon them: “We cannot ignore the Employment Service’s figures,
which claim that about 30,000 people of up to 30 years of age face
unemployment. These figures underline the importance of the third
consecutive BTC Campus, which signifies a stepping stone on the career
paths of these young graduates. It also benefits society at large, since
it is precisely the advancement of educated young people with an
entrepreneurial spirit and good networking skills that leads to
cooperation and the ability to face future challenges. In the past two
years we could already bear witness to quite a few success stories. For
example, following the past two Campuses, at least half of the
participants gained new employment opportunities, the majority of them
started to develop their own business projects,” he added.

 “The Employment Service of Slovenia is aware that we can solve
unemployment issues only by making connections and cooperating with each
other. The decision to take an active part in the BTC Campus project
was therefore an easy one. There is plenty of potential for creativity
among the registered unemployed, which must not be overlooked. We must
use different measures and activities to facilitate their speedy
employment. I believe that the central advantage of BTC Campus lies in
the fact that the activities are based on knowledge transfer,
experiential learning, and project achievements, which makes for tight
connections among the participants as well as the lecturers. But most
importantly, these unemployed young people learn to trust themselves and
realize that no dream is impossible, that it is possible to reach for
their dreams, with some willpower and support from others. The data only
confirm that: in the past two years, more than 45 unemployed young
people found employment or self-employment with the aid of knowledge and
skills, as well as networking, gained as part of this project. And new
projects open up new employment opportunities,” says Mavricija Batič, General Director of the Employment Service of Slovenia.

 “The mission of the Centre of Business Excellence of the Faculty of
Economics is to connect knowledge and thereby create and encourage
development within the Slovenian economy. The project BTC Campus is
proof of the successful cooperation between various institutions and the
labour market. Together we have created an entrepreneurial ecosystem
and facilitated the employment of young people, many of whom chose to
start their own businesses. Entwining youth and knowledge, this unique
project opens up new opportunities and fresh ideas for companies as
well. It is our goal and our wish to support the BTC Company in its
endeavour and see the seeds of the first Campuses come to fruition in
other companies as well, so that Slovenia will see a vigorous Campus
movement,” states the Centre of Business Excellence of the Faculty of
Economics.
The future of economic development lies in sustainability,
which is why cooperation with stakeholders is an inextricable part of
the BTC Company’s business operations. As part of one of its key
projects, Mission: Green, the company organizes a variety of activities
and touches upon topical social issues. Programmes such as the BTC
Campus are organized to benefit future generations and lead the company
toward realizing its vision of a society open to dialogue.

Additional Information

Maja Oven, Director of the Market Communication and Public Relations Sector

• T: +386 (0)1 585 13 15
• E: maja.oven@btc.si