STIMULATING AND SUPPORTING NEW BUSINESS IN IRELAND

Tanaiste praises local entrepreneurs.

By Joan Fahey, November 11, 2008

On Friday, 19 September 2008, at Harvey’s Point Country Hotel, Lough Eske, Donegal Town, Mary Coughlan, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment met with participants of the CEIM, Graduate Enterprise Programme and presented the graduates from this year with their certificates of completion.

The Tánaiste praised the participants as being the lifeblood of the economy, whose imagination, dedication and talent is important to Ireland’s continued success. She added that a thriving entrepreneurial culture has the potential to make a substantial contribution to economic and social development and to achieving balanced regional growth. Furthermore, she added that entrepreneurship has a critical role in adding to the indigenous enterprise sector which together with foreign direct investment, forms the foundation of Ireland’s enterprise base, and programmes such as CEIM and its participants offer a catalyst for entrepreneurship.

The Tánaiste told the audience that Ireland needs to see many new businesses being created now and in the years ahead and that Irish businesses must harness the power of innovation if they are to prosper in more challenging economic times.

The 'Commercialising Entrepreneurial Ideas and Management Development' (CEIM) programme is an enterprise development programme which targets entrepreneurs who wish to establish an enterprise in the North West region of Ireland. Since 2004 the CEIM programme has been offered by the two third level institutions in the north west region, namely, the Institute of Technology, Sligo, and, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, and, is managed and co-ordinated by WESTBIC, the Business and Innovation Centre for the Border, Midland and Western region. It successfully draws on regional resources – including the Institute’s of Technology, WESTBIC, Údarás na Gaeltachta, regional business and Enterprise Ireland to bring relevant, tangible support to enterprising people in the region. Funding has been provided by Border Action.

The programme’s unique aspects include: an intensive one-year programme of support offered to aspiring entrepreneurs who have a business idea with commercial potential, a focus on enterprise development and creation in the north west region, encouraging cross border enterprise and education networks.

The challenge, said the Tánaiste, is not only to generate a high level of new businesses starts, but also to maximise the number of innovative businesses among them that subsequently develop to achieve high growth. This type of business will be ahead of the curve and that support programmes such as CEIM and the businesses they work to develop must continue to be fostered and encouraged.

The outcomes of the CEIM programme to date have been significant and quite a number have moved on to be supported by the High Potential Start Up (HPSU) division of Enterprise Ireland. In fact, two past participants of the CEIM Programme - James Bonnar of Itronik Ltd and Ger O’Carroll of Arrotek Medical Ltd - featured recently in Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-up Showcase Event for 2007.

In addition, a number of Údarás na Gaeltachta supported companies have emerged from the programme, including the Gweedore-based Faisc Miotáil Teo (trading as Irish Pressings) while others are being supported by County Enterprise Boards in the North West.

The Institute of Technology sector clearly recognises the important role that the CEIM programme has played in the regeneration of indigenous enterprise in the North West and has demonstrated this by supporting CEIM for another year under the Technological Sector Research Strand II funding.

So far 41 new ventures have been created many of which are now successfully exporting their products on a world stage.

Successful graduates of the CEIM Programme pictured with supporting organisations and An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Mary Coughlan, T.D. at a recent event in Harvey’s Point, Donegal Town, to mark the success of recent programme participants. The programme is promoted by the Institute of Technology, Sligo and Letterkenny Institute of Technology and is managed and co-ordinated by WESTBIC.