Twenty Two of Carlow's best and brightest young entrepreneurs honed their business ideas at an intensive two day boot camp in the Arboretum Garden & Lifestyle Centre last weekend. Aged between eighteen and thirty, the finalists were selected by the Local Enterprise Office Carlow from over 40 entries in the “Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur” competition.
The aim of the IBYE National initiative is to encourage and support a culture of entrepreneurship among young people in Ireland, to promote entrepreneurship as a career choice, and to encourage the establishment and development of new innovative businesses by Ireland’s young entrepreneurs. This is hugely important for job-creation as two thirds of all new jobs are generated by businesses in the first five years of existence – more start-ups and a thriving entrepreneurial culture will lead to more jobs being created. This project is an integral part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2015 and is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through the Local Enterprise Offices.
The first phase for the Carlow finalists was the business boot camp where they refined their business propositions and developed their enterprise strategy. Additional one to one mentoring will be provided to each finalist over the coming weeks by well known enterprise expert and author, Blaise Brosnan, helping them to perfect their business plans and prepare a winning investment pitch. Speaking at the launch of the Boot Camp, the Head of Enterprise, Kieran Comerford commented on the very high standard of applications received.
“Both the quantity and quality of applications are a great indicator of the real entrepreneurial spirit in County Carlow. These entrepreneurs are the bedrock for future economic development in the county and we are delighted with this government initiative to target and encourage young people to use their imagination and energy and create winning businesses.”
In six weeks the finalists will have the opportunity to compete for investment of up to €20,000 to develop their business idea when they present to an expert judging panel at the LEO Carlow County Final. Competitors include existing businesses, new start-ups and new ideas. The exciting young enterprises range across industry sectors including IT, Healthcare, Household Goods, Education, Art & Design, Food products, Retail and Eco products.
Speaking at the Boot Camp Minister Ann Phelan commented: “The future of entrepreneurship in County Carlow looks extremely bright. Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition has shown that County Carlow has a wealth of young entrepreneurs ready to make a difference to the Carlow economy”.
The Local Enterprise Office Carlow will announce the three winning businesses at the LEO Carlow Awards on the 29th September 2015.
