Local Enterprise Week – entrepreneurs check out what is happening

Over 300 events are planned for Local Enterprise Week (4^th to 9^th March), to increase awareness of the range of supports and services available to microenterprises from the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in every county. Here in Kilkenny, one-to-one business clinics, marketing clinics, training programmes, data protection seminars are planned.

The week officially kicks-off on Sunday, March 4th with the national final of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition in Google Headquarters in Dublin. Over 1,400 young entrepreneurs entered the IBYE 2018 competition, which is an initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices and supported by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland. Eoin Treacy, Glanway Ltd will be representing Kilkenny in the Best Established Business Category.

The County Final of the Student Enterprise Programme will be held in the Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny on Wednesday 7^th March. In addition, several key events during Local Enterprise Week are organised in collaboration with other bodies such as the Enterprise Europe Network, Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and Network Ireland Kilkenny.

To help prepare and inform businesses, the Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny in conjunction with Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and the Enterprise Europe Network will host a seminar “GDPR Compliance - Using Data for Marketing Purposes” on Thursday 8^th March in the Ormonde Hotel, Kilkenny. At this seminar Kate Ashmore, Frontier Privacy Ltd, an innovative date protection consultancy firm based in Dublin, will specifically focus on how businesses can prepare for the GDPR from the perspective of how they use data for marketing purposes. As part of International Women’s Day, Network Ireland Kilkenny is hosting an evening event on Thursday 8^th March to celebrate female entrepreneurs with a panel discussion led by Helen Carroll.

Fiona Deegan, Head of Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny advises that the aim of Local Enterprise Week is to showcase all the supports that can be accessed locally, saying: “Local Enterprise Offices are in every local authority area and we’re at the heart of delivering enterprise supports to small businesses and start-ups in local communities. From training programmes that help businesses unlock new markets to financial assistance that help businesses create more jobs, Local Enterprise Week is the ideal time to find out how the Local Enterprise Office can help your small business start-up and grow.”

Event listings for Local Enterprise Week (March 4th to 9th 2018) are available from www.localenterprise.ie and by searching #localenterprise on social media.