SOUTH FORSYTH — Pinecrest Academy student Josiah Jones and a team of other north metro Atlanta high school students recently won first place in the TiE Young Entrepreneurs Global Competition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

After nine months of education, mentorship, pitch seasons and winning a local competition at the TiECON Southeast in Atlanta in April, Jones and the Terra Bacter team defeated 17 other teams.

Terra Bacter’s mission is to help farmers, end hunger and save the planet by providing an alternative, eco-friendly bioremediation technique to efficiently lower the acidity level of affected soils.

TiE Young Entrepreneurs is a program designed to educate high school students on what it takes to be successful in business as an entrepreneur.

To participate, students form teams and meet with mentors twice a month for six months to brainstorm, select ideas and create a business plan.

At the end of the program, teams compete locally and then globally against teams from around the world at the TiE Global Competition.

The Atlanta program began its fifth year this month.