Women of north Cork are ‘doing the business’
A NEW initiative aimed at giving additional supports to women in business across the North Cork region has been launched by the Local Enterprise Office (LEO).
Launched last Wednesday, the programme will run at the Charleville Park Hotel for 10 consecutive weeks and will cover a range of topics including business and financial planning, marketing and sales, human resource management, leadership skills and team management.
Kevin Curran, head of enterprise at the Cork North and West LEO, said the focus of the programme was on working with women to develop key skills that will help them grow their business and create jobs.
“There are some wonderful and dedicated female entrepreneurs in the are and we at the LEO are delighted to assist them through training, mentoring and business development support programmes,” said Mr Curran.
He said the LEO had a good track record in supporting women in business, citing Maura Hunter of MH Designs in Mallow and Rathcormac-based Siobhan Steele who has set up a successful ceramics business as examples.
Maura established MH Designs more than 25-years ago after she came frustrated with the limited amount of good design at the time. After years of hard work and dedication, with the help of training and networking through the LEO, MH Designs is now a nationally recognised brand which has been featured on the RTÉ ‘At Your Service” TV show.
Siobhan of Siobhan Steele Ceramics set up a studio at her home in 2013. A mere four years later her creations are available in almost 30 stores nationwide and she has recently secured outlets in New York.
Mr Curran said the two ladies provided magnificent role models to women in business and were “excellent examples for female entrepreneurs.”
“Very often through these training and support programmes business ideas are unlocked and the capacity of the of the participants is developed, providing a strong foundation and further engagement with the vast array of supports offered to small business through the LEO,” said Mr Curran.
“It is our intention to continue and support all business the best way we can. If research indicates that female specific initiatives will help us to help business grow then we will provide female specific initiatives. We will also continue to run a full range of training programmes for both men and women so we believe that we are providing a range of supports that will suit everyone’s requirements,” he added.
For more information about the various LEO initiative visit www. localenterprise.ie/corknorthandwest.