Press

Jeongeup City in Jeollabuk-do Province and SK Nexillis announced on the 5th that they will jointly promote the 'Joy'n Jeongeup' local youth support project to help young people in the region achieve independence and settle down. Joy'n Jeongeup is a regional rediscovery activation project pursued through cooperation between Jeongeup City and SK Nexillis for mutual development of the local community. The project supports youth entrepreneurs by providing startup-related education and consulting, shared store operations, and initial startup funds to enhance their store management experience, know-how, and self-reliance capabilities. On this day, the city launched the 'Joy'n Jeongeup Local Youth Startup Education' at the Youth Support Center. Prior to the education, the city conducted online and offline public recruitment over the past two months and selected 14 teams (22 people) of local youth and prospective entrepreneurs aged 18 to 39 as final candidates. The 10-week program, scheduled until June, combines common education through a locally-specialized startup specialty program and individual 1:1 customized coaching, held both online and offline every Tuesday. The city plans to assign dedicated coaches to trainees to provide customized coaching for business item discovery, business advancement, and product and service development processes. The education is led by Underdogs, a startup education institution and partner company of SK Nexillis. Young people who complete the education will be able to use the Joy'n Jeongeup shared office (shared store No. 3) located near Samgoheul Market, scheduled for completion this month, free of charge for six months. After the education, outstanding completion teams will be selected through evaluation, and top teams will be provided with customized startup consulting organized by the Youth Support Center and opportunities to operate SK Nexillis Joy'n Jeongeup shared stores. The city also plans to provide follow-up support by utilizing the Jeongeup Youth Development Fund to support up to 15 million won in youth startup capital over three years. Lee Yong-gwan, director of the Growth Strategy Division, said, "Through the Jeongeup-style youth startup package support project, we will expand the foundation of the youth startup ecosystem and establish a stable foundation for capable young people to settle within the region, actively responding to the crisis of rural decline."