South Eastern Initiative Expands To Support Fifteen Extra Creative Businesses
Wicklow Local Enterprise Office have welcomed Waterford LEO as a collaborative partner on the South Eastern Creative Corridor (SECC) initiative. This opens up the opportunity for 15 Waterford AV sector businesses to join the exciting programme of training, networking and events scheduled across the South East region in 2017. The programme started last Friday 9th December in the Lyrath Hotel in Kilkenny with an action packed Regional Bootcamp Event facilitated by a team of expert facilitators, designed to kick start the networking and goal setting for the first 54 regional businesses. Registration is still open at www.creativecorridor.ie and relevant businesses from within the region are urged to take this opportunity to extend their network and grow their businesses through this development and investment programme.
Announcing the extension of the South Eastern Creative Corridor to include Waterford, Sheelagh Daly, who is Head of Enterprise of the Lead Partner, LEO Wicklow, stated “I am delighted that we have been able to respond to the interest expressed in County Waterford by extending the project and setting up a Waterford group. Our Creative Corridor now involves six counties, and the inclusion of Waterford is a really exciting and positive development that I believe will greatly enhance the outcomes of the project.”
Richie Walsh, Head of LEO Waterford said of this opportunity “Waterford, with its great traditions in design and manufacture, has always been at the forefront of Irish creative thinking. It also now has a growing community involved in the new technology creative industries and Waterford’s involvement in the Creative Corridor project will provide a huge stimulus and support for the further development of this sector”
The year-long initiative, which was launched at an industry Symposium attended by key stakeholders from the sector in Wickow County Campus in November, offers enterprise owners an intensive programme of business development including training, mentoring, networking and access to finance. The objective is to assist participating businesses to increase sales, improve profitability, explore new markets and take full advantage of the opportunities in the sector. Funding for the initiative, which is led by the Local Enterprise Office Wicklow, is provided by Enterprise Ireland under the Regional Action Plan for Jobs competitive fund and it is expected that the outcomes of the programme will include job creation as well as the development of a sustainable creative industry cluster in the region.
The SECC programme will roll out across the region for the whole of 2017 with a series of training workshops and peer support networking and accountability boards to be held in each County. The programme will culminate with an Audio Visual Summit in December 2017. More information is available at www.creativecorridor.ie or by contacting your Local Enterprise Office.
