BoostforCreativeSpark
DUNDALK’S Creative Spark is one of four Louth enterprise centres/hubs to have received a total of just over half a million Euro funding from Enterprise Ireland.
Welcoming the allocation of €108,000, Sarah Daly, Executive Director, Creative Spaark said they were ‘delighted to have been awarded funding under this programme.
‘Our recovery will be based on providing customised services and supports relevant to the needs of our client companies and responding to the evolving situation with regard to government restrictions on movement and numbers allowed to participate in activities and events.’
She explained that in the absence of large training groups participating onsite at Creative Spark for the foreseeable period, ‘ we propose to repurpose some of this unused space to provide much needed extra co-working / remote working desks and to create an immediate economic return from this space.’
‘Key investments made possible by this grant request include contactless access systems and the digitisation of our training offering, investing in our capacity to develop blended training programmes – in person on-site and virtual remotely,’ she continued. ‘A needs analysis study will be undertaken to gauge the types and levels of supports required by our client companies and potential new start-ups locally. A training and mentoring programme will be developed and rolled out to ensure the recovery and viability of these companies through the current crisis and into
a post- COVID landscape.’
Creative Spark will undertake a talent-mapping project to document the area’s ICT capability, infrastructure, innovation ecosystem, STEAM and language competences and skills through a skills/talent heat map and database. This will inform a campaign to recruit smart- and remote-workers for Creative Spark and its proposed new project in
Dundalk town centre - mapping local skills and competences and developing new networks in our changed economic environment.
This funding will also support a collaborative effort across the region with the development of a joint promotional plan with Creative Spark, DkIT-RDC, Ardee Business Park, The Mill, Navan Enterprise Centre and
Kells Tech Hub(Louth-Meath). These six Hubs across Louth and Meath will work together to promote the wider region as a great location to start and scale a business. It is the first time the hubs have collaborated on a campaign and will be a strong example of Hubs co-operating across two counties and Enterprise Action Plans (Mid-East and North-East).