Meeting the 2023 EEPA Jury – Yolanda Alcalá García

The European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) reward organisations supporting entrepreneurship and SMEs at national, regional and local levels. Since 2006, over 4 400 projects have been entered for the awards.

Each year, we take the opportunity to introduce you to our esteemed EEPA jury members. They have the job of choosing the most innovative and exciting entries and, ultimately, the winner of the Grand Jury Prize.

After our interviews with Thomas Cooney, Elisabeth Backteman and Gilles Vandorpe, we now talk to Yolanda Alcalá García.

Ms Alcalá García is Deputy Director for SME Support at the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. She is thus responsible for the coordination of SME policy within the Ministry, including as regards the regulatory framework, strategies and tools. With an extensive background both in finance and as a qualified industrial engineer, Ms Alcalá García previously worked as a senior advisor at the Spanish Ministry of Finance and a national contact point for the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation funding programme.

Read on to see what advice Ms Alcalá García has for this year’s EEPA entrants.

What do you think makes this competition unique in Europe?

This competition gives all stakeholders the opportunity to get to know about other proposals and programmes for supporting enterprises and entrepreneurs. As a policymaker, you can check if your initiatives are in line with others and which types of instrument and programme work better or have more impact and why. You can learn, from other initiatives, how to improve your own. For participants, sharing your experience and your work is very rewarding and motivating.

What advice would you give participants on how to make their application stand out from the rest and include the information that you need in order to evaluate the project?

I think it is very important to highlight those aspects that differentiate your initiative from others. The participants should explain the innovative elements and why they are important properly. And, finally, it is necessary to emphasise the results and impact of your initiative.

What, specifically, do you think the jury members will be looking for in the 2023 EEPA?

Originality, innovation, results and impact.

Which are the top three qualities you will look for in a winning project?

Originality, adaptation to local challenges and results.

We will introduce you to the other members of the 2023 EEPA jury soon – so be sure to visit the Promoting Enterprise portal regularly and follow us on LinkedIn,  Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all the latest news.