STIMULATING AND SUPPORTING NEW BUSINESS IN IRELAND

Successful Midland Women in Business Conference & Networking Day held in Athlone

By James Donlon, November 6, 2006

Building on the success of the inaugural event last year, WESTBIC, in conjunction with the County Enterprise Boards in Westmeath, Roscommon & Longford, hosted a very successful Women in Business Conference in the Radisson Hotel, Athlone on Tuesday, 24th October last. Over 150 delegates took part. The theme of the conference was Female Entrepreneurship - Challenges and Opportunities. Guest speakers on the day included financial guru Eddie Hobbs, Mary Davis, Special Olympics Ireland, Frank Fulard from irishbusinesswomen.com and a number of successful female entrepreneurs from the region. MC for the day was Maura Derrane.

Mary Davis, CEO of Special Olympics Ireland and former CEO of the
World Special Olympic Games held in Ireland in 2003 addressed the audience on the importance of Networking.

Frank Fullard, CEO, Mayo CEB who established www.irishbusinesswomen.com, a virtual community of and for Irish business women gave a demonstration to the business women on the website. The network is intended to provide value to existing networks, to provide networking opportunities to those that cannot, for whatever reason join conventional networks and to provide an additional resource to the growing body of female entrepreneurs in Ireland.

Former Athlone native, Judy Greene, proprietor of Judy Greene Pottery, Galway, who will shortly be celebrating 25 years in business shared her experiences on the challenges and opportunities in setting up in business.

Athlonian, Regina Bushell’s name is synomymous with the provision of quality childcare and is well known in childcare circles all over Ireland. Regina who is proprietor of Grovelands Childcare & Early Education Centres outlined her experiences in setting up and developing her childcare facilities.

Ending the evening, Financial guru, TV personality and renowned speaker, Eddie Hobbs, of the ‘Show Me the Money ’ and ‘Rip Off Republic’ TV programme advised the female audience on making the most of their money and investing wisely.

The event was part funded by the EU through the INTERREG IIIC ADEP programme and included participants from the participating EU regions in Finland and France.