The BLC Bank organized last week its annual Brilliant Lebanese Awards (BLA) event in support of ground-breaking initiatives, particularly targeting women and SME entrepreneurships. The winners for this year’s competition were George el Aily (Spectronite, telecom company) for the category of SMEs, and Nada Ghazal (Nada G) for women entrepreneurs. Each laureate reportedly received a USD 60000 cash prize. The jury selected the winners based on the following criteria: financial performance of the company (30%), innovation (30%), sustainability and growth potential (25%) and social responsibility (15%). Jury members represented Banque du Liban, LAU, Endeavor, Kafalat, IFC, Berytech and the Lebanese League for Women in Business (LLWB). BLC vice president and general manager, Nadim Kassar, seized the opportunity to announce a new technology award to be launched next year. On the other hand, Al Akhbar newspaper wrote that during the Orientation Fair organized by the Islamic Center Association for Guidance and Higher Education at the Lebanese University campus in Hadath area many college-bound students (7 out of 10 students) said they have decided to major in business administration. It is unfair to blame students alone and ignore long years of disorientation to this effect, Al Akhbar said. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Akhbar, December 9, 11, 2017)