First virtual Local Enterprise Week a “success” for Waterford

Hundreds of budding entrepreneurs and business owners in Waterford have taken part in online events this week, marking Local Enterprise Week (March 1st – 5th), which has been hailed as a “success” by Local Enterprise Office Waterford.

An annual initiative from the 31 Local Enterprise Offices around the country, more than 270 events took place online under the theme of ‘Making It Happen’ attracting over 10,700 bookings nationally.

Supported by Waterford City and County Council and Enterprise Ireland, Local Enterprise Office Waterford hosted four events for local businesses this week, in addition to ten Spotlight events which were open to businesses across the country.

Speaking on the last day of Local Enterprise Week, Richie Walsh, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Waterford said: “We moved all of our events for Local Enterprise Week online for the first time, making them as accessible as possible for local businesses. It’s been a very successful week as we had over 300 start-ups and businesses from the county registered for our events to learn about areas like the green economy, becoming more competitive and leaner, exploring new opportunities online, as well as finding out about the vision for Waterford, as a place of innovation and enterprise.”

He added, “I’d like to thank all the companies that joined us online this week and to our team here in Local Enterprise Office Waterford for rolling out such an impressive programme of events. I’d also like to give a special word of thanks to all the contributors, speakers and facilitators who shared their experiences, challenges and insights at every event.”

Highlights from the week included Food, The Waterford Way Huddle; the Social Media Mash-Up 2.0; a Craft Industry virtual workshop and key event “Waterford, A Vision for the Future - A place of Innovation and Enterprise”, which was facilitated by Zara King of Virgin Media.

An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar T.D. officially opened the first Spotlight event for Local Enterprise Week and launched the new Green for Micro Programme on Monday (March 1st), which helps small businesses decarbonise and become more sustainable. The Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy T.D. spoke at another Spotlight event on the opening day, which focused on developing leadership and resilience.

At the final Spotlight event for Local Enterprise Week on Friday (March 5th), the Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English T.D. focused on how small businesses could gain a digital advantage through the Trading Online Voucher Scheme.

Further training programmes and events for Waterford businesses are taking place throughout March and details can be found Here.