STIMULATING AND SUPPORTING NEW BUSINESS IN IRELAND

HP on a Roll

By Joan Fahey, March 13, 2009

Following their welcome job announcement in Leixlip on 10th March 2009, Minister John McGuinness, on behalf of Hewlett Packard, launched the first of two HP Micro-enterprise Acceleration Programme (MAP) sites at the Galway Technology Centre in partnership with WESTBIC, the EU Business Innovation Centre for the BMW Region. The MAP is a PC based competitiveness up-grade programme offered to SMEs and micro companies and is made available by their delivery partner, WESTBIC, who also assisted the development of the curriculum. 2009 marks the twenty first year of WESTBIC service to the innovative start-up market under the National Development Plan. There are over fifty MAP sites now networked globally with HP ICT hardware and support. “On our twenty first birthday, we greatly welcome and pay tribute to HP for their meaningful and tangible corporate sponsorship of our work with small innovative companies here in the West of Ireland” commented Dr. Chris Coughlan, Chair of WESTBIC.

(l to r): Joe Greaney, Director, WESTBIC; Una Halligan, Government & Public Affairs Director, HP; Minister John McGuiness and Dr. Chris Coughlan, Chairman, WESTBIC