BY JOHN HOUANIHAU

Nominations for the Young Entrepreneurs Council Solomon Islands (YECSI) Awards Night are now open as of this week.

The YECSI awards night returns after a two-year pause due to circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic and others.

However, this year’s YECSI is set to host its event on Saturday, November 6 for the second time since 2022.

This year’s nomination will close on October 24, and members have three weeks to get their nomination forms and nominate their candidates.

Following the board and secretariat discussions for this year and the proposals put forward, YECSI’s awards for 2025 comprise 11 awards, up from the five awards in 2022.

“The highest award for this year is the PMs award, followed by the most committed entrepreneur of the year, most innovative entrepreneur of the year, most improved male entrepreneur of the year and most female entrepreneur of the year,” Moses Jnr Aumanu, YECSI coordinator, told Island Sun.

Additional awards for 2025 include agri-business of the year, tourism entrepreneur of the year, E-commerce entrepreneur of the year, provincial entrepreneur of the year, community award of the year, and association award of the year.

“We have members in all nine provinces, giving back to the communities through their services. So, we like to recognise these entrepreneurs as well,” Jnr Aumanu said.

“Last year, we had nine associations that joined YECSI. These nine associations themselves have 480 members, some in the climate space, some focus on capacity building, and some are provincially based,” he said.