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regional development centre
issue three winter2008
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Foreword
2
Contents
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Great care has been taken to ensure that this information is accurate,but the Regional Development Centre, including its subsidiaries does notaccept responsibility or liability for errors or information which is found
to be misleading.
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t | +353 42 9331161 F | +353 42 9331163
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The Regional Development Centre (RDC) is a centre to promoteinnovation, technology transfer and enterprise in the wider region and
is based on the DkIT Campus. The centre receives generous funding fromthe following organisations
i mc, RDC Manager
Written & edited by Hilary Knight Communications +44(0)28 3888 1368
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sToday the RDC provides over thirty incubation spaces in
Dundalk and Drogheda or technology and knowledge
based businesses in their early development phase. Butas some o these companies explain, the advantages
are ar more than just ofce space.
The Regional DevelopmentCentre (RDC) at DkIT,which was established in1989 as one o Irelandsfrst on campus BusinessIncubation Centres, hasbeen a pioneer in the
provision o support orearly start entrepreneursor almost 20 years.
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For further information about incubation
facilities please contact:
Sean MacEntee, Incubation Centre
Manager, Regional Development Centre,
Dundalk Insitute of Technology, Dundalk,
Co. Louth.
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..*(Source: Benchmarking of Business Incubators: Feb 2002)
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Feature: Incubating Success
LINK
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Powerul Ideas
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The Go Europa Team are Seamus Crossan, Dundalk, Kevin Costello,Cavan, and Wojciech Kulesza rom Poznan, Poland.
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The business support here is very impressiveand the atmosphere of the centre with so many
technology based businesses and research facilities,
is very conducive to business development and
networking opportunities.
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Feature: Incubating Success
Vennetics
Calling
John Hamill, Director Vennetics
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The challenges now
facing SMEs are major
and innovating newways to do things faster,
cheaper and better is
what it is all about.
There is no one set o rules that
can address the diering needs
o these growing companies.
They all needed to tackle their
individual problems and they
appreciated the advice and
expertise that we could oer
them.
We made sure that the
tailored programme of
help that each company
received was highly
relevant to their needs.
Several o the companies have
now initiated collaborative
R&D projects as a result o
their involvement with the
programme, he added.
With the strong working
relationship and trust that
has developed betweenthe companies and the
RDC, we have been
able to channel in other
technical supports from
the wider Institute.
It is hoped to run a similar
programme or local SMEs in
2009.
Here we profle the stories o 3
o the participants :
Bellurgan Precision Engineering,
Dundalk, Brandt Technologies,
Dundalk and Amray, Drogheda.
Other companies that were
supported on the programme
were:
- Shabra Plastics, Castleblaney
- Eurolec Instrumentation,
Dundalk
- Royal Masterpeace, Navan
- APT-Saelink, Balbriggan
- Schiedel Chimney Systems Ltd,Carrickmacross
- Uniblock Ltd., Dundalk.
The Novation BusinessGrowth Programme(NBGP), run by theRegional DevelopmentCentre (RDC) at DkITand funded by FSunder their One StepUp initiative, hashelped local companiesto receive highlyindividual packagesof assistance.
Nine local owner-managed SME
companies in a variety o sectors
rom the North East Region
joined the programme, which
ran over a six month period.
The programme successully
helped them to deal with a
number o product, process and
market development challenges,
which were limiting their
potential to expand and grow.
It provided a menu o highlytailored individual assistance,
ocusing on the identifcation
and implementation o a
programme o change with real
outcomes or the company. The
emphasis was very much on
learning by doing. This wascarried out in-house or each
company by the RDC, along
with trainers and consultants
rom Scottish frm Targeting
Innovation.
Four hal-day workshops
addressed specifc management
issues including the Selling
Process, New Product
Development, Team Building
and Communications, and
Finding and Protecting New
Ideas.
Response to the programme by
the companies has been very
positive and all have welcomed
the resh approach adopted by
the RDC.
The mentoring and consultancy
which provided the one-to-one
working in the companys own
premises, was deemed to be
particularly helpul.
Sean MacEntee, Incubation
Centre Manager at the RDC
explained,
hLocal BusinessescAssisting local SMEs across the North East Region is integral to the economic brie o the RDC at DkIT
(ront let) Ken Marr,Targeting Innovation, Sean
MacEntee, Incubation CentreManager and Liz Dullaghan,
FS, with the participantsrom nine local SMEs in theNovation Business Growth
programme.
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Among the companies who took part in the business growth
programme, were Bellurgan Precision Engineering, a Dundalk
company who specialise in the manuacture o precision machine
components employing 50 people and with sales o 6.5 million.
Suzanne Carroll, managing director spoke about how the programmehas helped her company. We embarked on the programme
thinking that we might develop a new Bellurgan product instead
o manuacturing or other companies. In act instead during the
programme, we spent a lot o time looking at what we do and we
reviewed and redefned this to really ocus on what our service is.
This was a really valuable process or us.
We looked at the sectors that had the most potential or growth
or our business. We identifed both the cabin interior or aerospace
customers and the medical components in which we already have
10 years experience, as the sectors most likely or growth.
Working with Arthur Slight rom Targeting Innovation, we built a
network o contacts in the UK and he carried out market research
with those prospects, she said.
We ound that the one-to-one approach was so valuable to us
in our busy business environment. Arthur worked with us at
our premises and helped us identiy a way to take our business
orward.
The workshops were a chance to meet the other participant
companies and the Idea Generation workshop was very helpul in
recognising what is a good idea and what isnt, she added.
.b.
Engineering w F
Drogheda based company
Amray who specialise in
providing radiation protection
products or the medical sector,
supply everything rom lead
aprons to ull room protection.
When we joined the NBGP
programme, the frst thing
that Sean MacEntee asked
was, What do you need or
your company? Within the
frst session, we had looked at
the levels o innovation in our
company, established what it
was we most needed help with
r Success A ShadowingSolution
Dermot Hannon, director with
Brandt Technologies heard
about the NBGP programme
rom the RDC team and ound
this programme a very helpul
experience in a number o ways.
The company have developed
an innovative sotwareapplication, Shadow which
is a unique tool to test new
sotware simultaneously across
multiple machines, creating cost-
eective solutions or sotware
Profle: Three Local Businesses
and outlined an action plan,
said William Johnston, director
at Amray.
We are in a period o growth
and our growing pains
highlighted many procedures
that were not working well,
including customer relations to
administration.
Our fnancial accounting
systems and reporting needed
updating and we recognised
the need to appoint a fnancial
controller, who is now in place.
The programme gave us an
experienced ear to listen to our
challenges and help us fnd the
practical solutions to improve
these, added William.
Because the time was well
spent and ocussed specifcally
on our needs the solutions were
really relevant too.
.y.
development companies.
The NBGP programme helped
Dermot to examine market
opportunities and help the
company to make decisions
about whether to integrate a
number o services and products
oered to customers, or
whether to market Shadow as
a stand alone product.
The management training
and seminars were excellent,
the additional expertise o
the Targeting Innovation
consultant to help identiy
market opportunities was very
welcome.
Most o all the report that
the consultant has produced
will really help us to makesome difcult and ar-reaching
decisions about uture directions
or the business,
www.brandttechnologies.com
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Dermot Hannon, Director
Brandt Technologies
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Dr Tim McCormac has recently
joined DkIT as the new Head
o Research. Tim will be urther
developing the research remit
o the Institute. This will be
achieved by supporting the
existing Research Centres
and also enabling emerging
researchers to initiate their
research careers. The Research
Ofce has recently announceda number o internal support
measures to achieve these aims.
Previously with the Institute o
Technology Tallaght (ITT Dublin),
Tim played pivotal leadership
roles in the development o
Research within ITT Dublin, in
particular he was the project
leader or ITT Dublins PRTLI
Cycle 4 award o 10 million or
the Centre or Applied Science
or Health (CASH). Through
this experience he will assist
researchers across the our
schools within DkIT to secure
research unding rom both
national and international
sources, with an emphasis on
any uture HEA PRTLI cycles.
News in Brie
n h r dkit
Thirteen new participants
were accepted onto this years
Novation Enterprise Platorm
Programme (NEPP) at the RDC.
The graduate entrepreneurs are
all developing business ideas
in innovative and knowledge
based high tech and IT areas.
They will receive training, one-
to one coaching, advice andgain extensive networking
opportunities.
Participants have access to ofce
space and specialist acilities
at the RDC and some fnancial
assistance is available through
the Commercialisation o R&D
(CORD) Fund rom Enterprise
Ireland.
Over 70 entrepreneurs have
participated in NEPP, since
2001. 54 businesses have been
established by participants
resulting in total employment
o 311 people and sales o27million per annum. The
NEPP programme is unded by
the Department o Education
and Science under the National
Development Plan.
.y@k.
n nepp e
The aim o the Paperclip
Challenge was simple. Every
student who entered received
a paper clip and 3 weeks to
trade up, using their sales and
communication skills.
The winner was Conor Moore
who achieved a canoe in 7
trades. He traded a reezer bag
sealer, 3 highlighters, luminous
light-up pen, tin whistle, scooter,
two collector edition LPs and
fnally a canoe. Conor won aNintendo Wii.
The challenge is based on the
amous story o Kyle MacDonald
who succeeded in trading one
red paperclip or a house.
Paperclip challenge links students
and enterprise
s e dkit
pc c ob.
Check out Kyles story at www.
oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/
A second Student Enterprise
Intern Ronan Lynch, has joined
existing Intern Mary Larkin.
Together they will promote
enterprise and entrepreneurship
to students at DkIT through
a series o un challenges,
inormation events and
seminars.
In the next edition, we will
overview our initial researchfndings o a number o groups
o frst year students attitudes
to starting a business rom
across the institute.
.k.
Ardee based MCOR
Technologies, participants on
the RDCs Novation Enterprise
Platorm Programme 2007/08
won the Intertrade Ireland
All-Island Seedcorn Business
Competition - Emerging
International Category.
At the ceremony on Nov 27th
held in Belasts Ramada Hotel,
MCOR swept the top prize
o 100,000. The company
developed a 3D Printer, a device
that builds three dimensional
models rom 3D computer
drawings using standard reams
o A4 paper, a process that is
entirely unique, and one that
is getting huge attention rom
around the globe.
Following the recent launcho the MCOR Matrix, MCOR
received over 1 million hits on
their website .
MCOR Technologies joins a
growing list o regional and
national seedcorn winners who
Thirteen new participants on the 2008 NEPP programme take the plunge as
they prepare or a boatbuilding challenge as part o a residential at the Four
Seasons Hotel, Carlingord
Dr Tim McCormac
Head o Research DkIT
m nepp Seedcorn Winners
were participants on the NEPP
programme, including: Sean
Gallagher, Smarthomes, Micheal
Armstrong, Armac and David
Gillen, Blue Acre Technology.
..
Our congratulations to Conor, Fintan and Deirdre MacCormac
MCOR Technologies