´³²¹±è²¹²Ô¡¯²õ °ì¨²õ±ð²Ô technical colleges and a human resources company have teamed up to help student entrepreneurs trying to revitalize local economies.
The National Institute of Technology, which oversees the 51 national k¨sen across Japan, signed a partnership agreement with BizReach last month. The alliance is aimed at introducing k¨sen students planning to launch businesses in their local areas to people with extensive business experience.
The NIT aims to facilitate the establishment of startups by k¨sen students so that all national k¨sen will have at least one such business within five years.
K¨sen students learn specialized skills while interacting with local companies, allowing them to encounter problems unique to their local communities, such as declining and aging populations as well as the resulting shortage of labor and business successors.
Some students have launched startups to address the problems. Including those started by graduates, 37 companies have been established by students at 22 national k¨sen over the five years through March this year.
But k¨sen students often lack practical business experience, such as sales and accounting. Under the new partnership, BizReach will use its job search website, which has over 2.9 million registered users, to match professionals with students.
¡°Utilizing k¨sen is a key issue for regional revitalization,¡± NIT chief Isao Taniguchi said. ¡°I hope many (experts) will lend support.¡±
As the first project under the agreement, D-yorozu, a company based in Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture, began recruiting for positions, including marketing manager on the BizReach website.
The company, which supports local businesses using technologies such as optical character readers, was launched in 2023 by Yuto Kashihara while he was a student at the NIT¡¯s Kagawa College.
¡°We can solve problems with technologies, but we aren¡¯t good at expanding our business while considering cost effectiveness,¡± Kashihara said. ¡°I hope people who can make such business plans will come.¡±
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