Board of Dungarvan Enterprise Cetnre at the official launch of the new centre. Included are Fearghal Reidy, Chairman; Anike Tyrell, Waterford County Enterprise Board; Minister Phil Hogan; John Power, Powerflow; John White, JBW Accountants and Dr Bill O’Gorman, WIT.

Waterford CEB creates 80 jobs in 2011

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Phil Hogan, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, was in Dungarvan in recent weeks to launch the new Dungarvan Enterprise Centre.A public-private-community partnership, the centre opened its doors in December 2011 and subsequently appointed centre manager Mags Durand O’Connor.

The centre comprises of affordable office space and hi-spec meeting and training facilities. The core aim is to support enterprise development in the area by offering practical supports to start-up and growing businesses. The centre aims to develop a hub of entrepreneurial activity by offering a “leg-up” to entrepreneurs who otherwise may be inhibited financially or otherwise from taking the next step. The presence of Waterford County Enterprise Board as anchor tenant means that businesses can benefit from onsite business supports including financial, advisory, mentoring and network support. The centre itself provides spaces ranging in size from 13.5 sq.metre to 29 sq.metre, with room for one to five person businesses available. Spaces start at €160 per month including management fee and VAT, making these high-spec office spaces a very cost-effective option for the entrepreneur wishing to move from the spare room office at home. Facilities at Dungarvan Enterprise Centre are second

to none, with high spec IT infrastructure offering 120mg speeds, VOIP services and reliable broadband, the infrastructure is capable of hosting cloud businesses so is an affordable option for start-ups across a wide range of sectors. The centre manager is also an experienced business mentor providing mentoring and advisory services as part of the centre services. As part of its mission to develop enterprise in Dungarvan and West Waterford, the centre offers regular business skills training in areas such as social media, marketing, PR, tax, finance to name but a few. To date, over 40 local businesses have used the facilities and there have been four networking events hosted on-site. Speaking at the official opening Minister Hogan congratulated the community on supporting the venue and wished all involved continued success. The event was very well-attended, with representation from business, local government, local politics and support agencies on hand to show their support for the centre.

At the official opening of Dungarvan Enterprise Centre, Minister for Environment and Local Government Phil Hogan with Mags Durand

O Connor, Centre Manager.

Minister officially opens new centre

Monthly newsletter April 2012

Despite the general gloom continuing through 2011, Waterford CEB had a record year in terms of job creation with 80 jobs being funded either directly through employment support or through provision of capital grants. This would compare with an average of 25 in the two previous years. These jobs came from a broad cross section of micro-enterprise. The strongest sector was manufacturing at 22% of which 13% were in the furniture trade. This was followed by food at 20% and crafts based business with 19% of the total. The remainder ranged from green energy solutions, I.T., tourism and e-commerce. The Board approved €575,190 to 37 projects under its regular funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERGF) and a further €281,236 to 17 projects under the European Globalisation Fund - a special fund set up to assist former Waterford Crystal Workers to set up in business. A brief comparative of the South East region’s boards shows the overall performance of the Boards in terms of money actually paid out to projects in each county over the course of 2011.

New Product DevelopmentCentreNew product design and development is more often than not a crucial factor in the survival of a company. In an industry that is changing fast, firms must continually revise their design and range of products. This is necessary due to continuous technology change and development as well as other competitors and the changing preference of customers. Equally, it is often the first point of departure for an individual with an innovative idea. Without an R&D facility – which is unaffordable for most - a firm or individual must rely on strategic alliances and networks to tap into the capacities of others.The Enterprise Board is supporting a specialized unit based in an existing engineering firm – Advantage Engineering Ltd., (located in the Airport Business Park, Tramore) which already has capacity in the design and development of new products. The centre brings together the expertise and support of private industry, specialist mentors and appropriate agency assistance as may be needed. The aim is also to build strategic alliances in the sector through a specialist network of individuals and companies who are operating in mutually compatible areas that may provide support and commercial opportunities for the group.

EligibilityFor those interested in applying for grant aid it is worth noting that the Board is mandated to fund specific sectors including manufacturing, export traded services, a domestically traded service business with the potential to trade internationally or, a domestically traded service being established by a female who is returning to the work force. The

maximum grant for a start-up business is 50% or €150,000 whichever is the lesser. However, grants over €80,000 and up to €150,000 are the exception and only apply in the case of projects which show export potential. There are a number of specific exclusions also – including the retail sector, primary agricultural production and construction.

Waterford County Enterprise Board - Overview of 2011

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Walter Walsh, Radiance Crystal, one of the many clients assisted by Waterford County Enterprise Board in 2011

Mags Durand O’Connor, Centre Manager; Jenny Beresford, Dungarvan Chamber and Yvonne Baumann, Baumann Jewellers at Speed Show held at Dungarvan Enterprise Centre

Anike Tyrell, Waterford County Enterprise Board; Catherine McCarthy, WCEB and Mags Durand O’Connor, Dungarvan Enterprise Centre.

New for 2012 The range of supports on offer in the NPD centre include:From private industry: professional product design with access to industrial design engineers and specialist 3D design software; prototype development, tooling and manufacture advice. From mentors: patent, trademark and intellectual property advice; commercialization assessment and strategy development; market assessments and strategic advice.From Waterford County Development Board: the Board will provide 80% funding to a maximum of €3,500 for suitable candidates. Enterprise Board staff work with the NPD centre to assess suitability for the facility based on an initial assessment of the quality of the idea and on the capacity of the individual to take advantage of the opportunity. The CEB are in a position to fund a maximum of 10 projects for 2012 and will reassess the project at the end of that year.

Network and Management Development Programme for Food Start-UpsIn January this year, the County Enterprise Board launched the ‘Waterford Food Development Programme’. The programme aims to enable emerging Waterford based food companies to develop the expertise, management skills and internal processes to take their product idea from concept to commercialisation, and ultimately to supply retail multiples, hotels and catering companies in Ireland and potentially abroad. The idea is to provide the key information, tools, attitude and inspiration to participating owner /managers to enable them to succeed in the Irish market and beyond. The programme currently has 10 very interesting companies and comprises six half day workshops from January through December 2012, and six two hour

mentoring /action planning sessions with each of the companies after each group training/networking session. A high level of group input is encouraged at every stage. In each of the six modules a ‘sharing of experiences session’ occurs in the first hour to enable the participants to share their learning and also to encourage a greater understanding of the challenges and opportunities in this sector. In addition all attendees are encouraged to attend a group lunch post training to enable the creation of a strong support network. Each company will ultimately compete with well resourced international food companies who are investing millions in their brands annually. Therefore a crucial requirement is that they develop a strong brand with a distinctive USP at an early stage in their development and put in place a strong financial plan to enable the business to work from a solid foundation.The Programme Manager, Tessa O’Connell, MD of Brand-Edge, has an exceptionally strong track record in the food and retail sector. She was Marketing Manager of SuperValu from 1994-2001 and has developed and runs the SuperValu Supplier Development Programme on behalf of both Enterprise Ireland and Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland. She has also held roles as Key Account Manager for Unilever UK and negotiated on the company’s behalf with buyers from Asda, Waitrose, Morrisons and Kwiksave. She has negotiated with Musgrave and Dunnes Stores on behalf of a range of large and small food companies and will introduce local Waterford food companies where relevant to key Multiple Buyers and to appropriate contacts within Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia. Restructuring of Enterprise Boards.The Minister for Enterprise Trade and Innovation, Richard Bruton, has been reviewing the structure of enterprise supports in recent months and, in particular, the role of the CEBs. Under the Action Plan for Jobs it is proposed that a new ‘one-stop-shop’ micro enterprise support structure be established through the dissolution of the existing CEB structures and the creation of a new Micro Enterprise and Small Business Unit in Enterprise Ireland. EI will work with the Local Authorities to establish a new network of Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) in each Local Authority. The LEOs will combine the enterprise support service of the previous CEBs and the business support work of the Business Support Units in the Local Authorities, offering an enhanced service because of their seamless access to both EI expertise and the broader business

services of the Local Authority.The intention is that the new LEOs will act as a focal point for a series of important new policy initiatives aimed at small businesses. If you wish to access the full details of the Action Plan for Jobs on the Department’s website you can find it on www.djei.ie . It is likely that these changes will not come about until the latter part of 2012.

Margaret Drohan, Dungarvan Chamber; Brad Marshall, Advance Landscaping and Lara Gough, The Ballet Studio at Speed Show, held at Dungarvan Enterprise Centre

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Enterprise Board

EGF Waterford Crystal

ERDF Total Payments

Carlow 10,801.66 282,337.23 293,138.89

Kilkenny 51,306.96 256,471.78 307,778.74

Waterford County

332,008.58 352,268.44 684,277.02

Waterford City 226,268.70 283,260.51 509,529.21

Wexford - 420,657.05 420,657.05

Tipperary SR 126,085.57 167,114.00 293,199.57

Norbert Thul and Audrea Hassett of Tastefully Yours, clients of Waterford County Enterprise Board

The facts• Affordable office space - starting

at €160 including VAT and management fee

• Variety of sizes available up to four person office.

• Rolling lease with 12 month commitment and no penalty clauses for early termination.

• High spec IT infrastructure using CAT5 cabling offering 120mg speeds, VOIP services and reliable broadband- all at shared costs.

• State of the art meeting and training facilities.

• Mentoring and training available in-house.

• Currently 7 spaces available.

For more information, contact Dungarvan Enterprise Centre Manager, Mags Durand-O’Connor

T: 058 23598M: 086 8271954E: dungarvanec@gmail.com

What’s on Offer? Dungarvan Enterprise

Centre at a glance

Micheal Cosgrove, Board Member, WLP; John White, Board Member DEC, Mags Durand O’Connor, DEC Centre Manager, Michael Walsh, Chair, WLP and Caroline O’Brien, WLP.

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WHAT’S NEW

WEN is the women’s enterprise network for Dungarvan and West Waterford, supported by Waterford County Enterprise Board. The network exists to promote and develop women-led businesses in the region. Events involve guest speakers from various areas of expertise, training, referrals and networking, the events are held once per month and are free to attend. Anyone interested in learning more should contact mags@makenmarketing.com

Waterford WEN and Dungarvan Chamber will host a joint Business After-Hours at Dungarvan Enterprise Centre on Thur 19th April from 5.30-7.00PM. Six businesses will be showcased, interested businesses should contact info@dungarvanchamber.ie

Dungarvan Chamber will host a Facebook Timeline for Business workshop in Dungarvan Enterprise Centre on Wed 28th March at 1PM at a cost of €15 per person. Bookings through info@dungarvanchamber.ie

Dungarvan Enterprise Centre would like to extend a warm welcome to Mercyhurst College Ireland Forcelink Ltd who have both taken up residence at the centre in recent weeks.

Dungarvan Enterprise Centre,Old Friary BuildingLower Main StreetDungarvanCo. Waterford

T: 058 23598M: 086 8271954E: dungarvanec@gmail.com

START YOUR OWN BUSINESS COURSE You have a great business idea but you’re not quite sure how to develop it further? A Start Your Own Business Course may be your answer. Run over 10 weeks, it includes practical book-keeping, practical marketing, customer care, cashflow projections and preparing your business plan. The next Start Your Own Business course will commence in April 2012 - one night a week for 10 weeks to be held in Dungarvan and Tramore. Cost: €80 per participant Full details available on request from Catherine McCarthy, Waterford County Enterprise Board, The Courthouse, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford or log on to http://www.enterpriseboard.ie/pdf/startyourownbusinessprogramme.pdf for course outline, e-mail: waterfordceb@cablesurf.com or telephone 058 44811