Enterprise Board marks 30-years of ‘doing the business’ in Fermoy
THE Fermoy Enterprise Board celebrated three decades of achievement at a special gathering held in the Community Centre on Ashe Quay last Friday.
The board’s chairman and co-founder, local businessman and former town councillor Michael Hanley gave a presentation outlining the many achievements the body has achieved over the years.
“The Enterprise Board was established in 1986 as a voluntary forum for action after close to 800 jobs across farming, construction, the motor industry and retail were lost to Fermoy,” Mr Hanley told the large attendance at the event which included local business leaders, politicians and representatives from various statutory bodies.
He said the formation of the Enterprise Board was a result of the lack of interest from local groups, with the exception of the Fermoy Traders Association, in solving the towns unemployment issue.
“The aim was to give members the responsibility of taking specific actions designed to benefit the community economically. The major task of the board was then, as it is now, was the provision of the maximum number of jobs possible for the area and attacking he issues associated with the acquisition of these jobs such as housing, retail, the provision of leisure facilities and tourism,” said Mr Hanley.
“The key to success was persuading those who had done well to put something back, in the process establishing a good working relationship with the executives of state agencies. In this regard, I can not speak highly enough of the IDA. We have always been treated with respect and appreciated for what we are trying to do,” he added.
In truth, the 90-minute presentation was not nearly long enough to highlight much of what the Enterprise board has achieved over the years. However, what did emerge from the event was very impressive, with many of these achievements referred to during the course of the presentation .
These included: encouraging major local business players to get involved; securing the backing of the IDA the County Council and other statutory bodies; influencing the arrival of companies such as Met Life, BUPA, SCI and Anderson Power Products to Fermoy; successfully negotiating the acquisition of the Faber Castell factory; assisting in the development of the Fermoy Technology Business Park; the production of a tourism brochure and the commissioning of numerous reports into issues of local importance.
“These are just an illustration of the enormous body of successful work that has been done over the years by the Enterprise Board,” said Mr Hanley.
Mr Hanley was also keen to pay tribute to both past and present members and the many local benefactors whose generosity had helped the Board achieve its goals over the years..
Other speakers on the day included Cllr Deirdre O’Brien; chair of Cork County Council’s Fermoy MDC, Deirdre Clune MEP; former Cork East TD Ned O’Keeffe, Conor Healy, Cork Chamber CEO, Ray O’Connor, regional manager with the IDA, Martin Corkery regional manager with Enterprise Ireland, Sean Moran of Sanmina SCI and Pat Kenny, formerly of Deloitte and Touche.
All spoke glowing in terms of the work done over the years by the Fermoy Enterprise Board and in particular the role that Michael Hanley had played in its ongoing success.
Concluding the contributions Ray O’Connor summed up the sentiments of congratulating the Enterprise Board for the initiative and drive it has shown over the past three decades.
Like many of the other speakers, Mr O’Connor also singled out Mr Hanley for particular praise, describing him as the “go-to” person in Fermoy.
“The power of self-help by getting up and doing things for yourself is really powerful. The Enterprise has epitomised that ethos and I have no doubt it will continue to do so into the future,” he added.
Like many of the other speakers, Mr O’Connor also singled out Mr Hanley for particular praise, describing him as the “go-to” person in Fermoy.
“Michael has always been very supportive to the IDA and we have always been very grateful for that support,” he said.