New study aims to create AgTech cluster in the west

A new study is being carried out by the Local Enterprise Offices with a view to supporting job
creation and retention in the AgTech sector in the west of Ireland. The study is being conducted
across counties Roscommon, Galway and Mayo as part of the Regional Enterprise Plan.
The study aims to discover what supports could be provided to accelerate growth of businesses in
this sector in the three counties.

A number of significant opportunities exist in the AgTech space – including the opportunity to
network companies which are currently operating separately, to bring sub-suppliers into food
production, and to explore the potential of collaboration across the West of Ireland and beyond.
AgTech is a growing sector employing around 500 people, but there is no clear picture of the
landscape and what these companies might need in order to develop and scale. This examination of
agri companies aims to assess the feasibility of creating a network across Roscommon Mayo and
Galway, which could eventually connect further into national networks.

The scoping study being undertaken by Local Enterprise Offices in Roscommon, Galway and Mayo
will explore the three county’s AgTech capacity, profiling the companies working in the sector, their
current activity, export potential and numbers of jobs supported. It also aims to determine the types
of supports the Local Enterprise Office network offers to agri companies in areas such as Agri tech,
engineering, interactive farming products and forestry among others.

LEO Roscommon is calling on agri companies across the west to get in touch if they are interested in
taking part in this study. Involvement will include a visit from a Business Development Consultant to
build up an overall picture of the sector – along with the challenges and opportunities faced by these
businesses.

The information gathered through this process will be used to create a Best Practice model for the
AgTech sector in the region and examine the possibility of programme development to increase
scale in the existing companies, as well as encouraging start-ups in the AgTech space.
Louise Ward, Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Roscommon says: ‘Building a network of
businesses in different sectors has shown to be a very successful way of improving the environment
for all. Businesses now have the opportunity to share ideas and address common problems which
may be difficult for anyone business to tackle on its own.’

Companies interested in getting involved in this process can contact 090-6626263, or email
localenterprise@roscommoncoco.ie