Historic day as the next phase of The Mill open for business
NEW PHASE OF THE CENTRE HOUSES A START UP LAB, OFFICES AND A CONFERENCE SUITE AND SEES THE THE MILL ALMOST DOUBLE IN SIZE WITH SPACE FOR 120 PEOPLE
Fiona Magennis reports on historic day at The Mill
PHASE Two of The Mill was officially opened last week, seeing an additional 5,000 square feet of workspace added to the building, almost doubling the size of the local enterprise centre.
The ribbon on the new phase of the development was officially cut by the Minister for Enterprise and Small Business, Pat Breen.
New co-chairs of The Mill Gail McEvoy and Alan Costello welcomed all those present and acknowledged all the people who have helped to make phase two of the Mill a reality.
Alan Costello said: ‘It’s a fantastic opening day here for The Mill. We’re delighted to welcome our guests and sponsors to the whole community of millers here. We’re providing real leadership here around enterprise and entrepreneurship in the region. Around the sectors of digital technology and early stage technology and we’re delighted with the support of the community and we welcome everyone to come in and check us out.
He said both phases of The Mill are about 7,000 square feet with a common area in the middle so the new developments means the centre will go from housing 60 people on site to accommodating close to 120 people across fifty or sixty companies.
‘Phase two is a lot more of our start up labs so start ups will come in work together, learn together and develop,’ he said.
The latest phase includes the Eugene Kierans Suite, new offices many of which have already been let to new technology companies and the start up lab zone upstairs where there is co-working, shared facilities, hot desking space and group lecture areas for people to come and work together
‘So phase two is space but it’s also about community and people working together,’ said Mr Costello.
He said they have been working for the past two and have half years to develop the funding with major partners like Enterprise Ireland and Louth County Council along with significant donations from private industry and individuals.
Mayor of Drogheda Oliver Tully opened proceedings, welcoming everyone to the centre and praising the amazing work that has been done at The Mill in such a small timeframe.
‘I would like to congratulate everyone on what has happened here,’ he said. ‘ To see phase two being opened this morning in a relative short space of time, less than five years, is amazing,’ he said, adding: ‘ Someone was asking me already about phase three!’
Graham O’Rourke spoke about the passion and dedication from everyone involved in making the idea of the enterprise centre a reality and paid particular tribute to Eugene Kierans for his ‘energy and passion’ for the project. In recognition of his dedication to the cause, the new conference suite is named after Eugene.
Martin Cronin,Chairman of the Louth Economic Forum, said the opening of a new enterprise centre was always an inspirational occasion. ‘
He said Louth like most counties has advantages and disadvantages and said what the county needs to do is leverage the advantages as strongly as we can. He said one of the main advantages in Louth was it’s proximity to the capital city and the motorway. He said one of the big disadvantages, however, for the county was the fact that it doesn’t have a city and international development now is all about city regions. Minister for Enterprise and Small Business, Pat Breen praised the ‘ trojan work’ done to raise the funds to build phase two of The Mill, ‘ and what a marvellous building it is’.
This community, the work that has been done here, trojan team to raise the finances.
‘Obviously there’s a great community spirit here and that community spirit is very evident by your commitment and by your spirit of entrepreneurship and the culture of innovation in this area,’ said the Minister.
‘It is so important to have a facility like this here for people who want to start their own business,’ he said. ‘ There is a huge spirit of enterprise in this country, so much so that the New York Times voted Ireland the best in European Union for start ups and entrepreneurship and I think that should be recognised and the enterprise centres around the country have played an important role in that.’
He also acknowledged the hard work done by the board at The Mill and the skills provided
‘It’s important The Mill continues to grow,’ he said. ‘I know you’ve been working with Enterprise Ireland who funded this. It’s important we give these companies mentoring advice as well.’
He said The Mill had 19 tenants employing between 60 and 65 people and this was evidence of the ongoing job growth in the region.
‘For me, the Minister for small business, I’m passionate about small businesses, I’m passionate about start ups, entrepreneurship, it’s so important to have a facility like this here in Drogheda to cater for people who want to start up their own business.’
He ended with a quote which he said he had found on The Mill’s twitter account that morning and thought was very appropriate: ‘Anybody can build a building but only some can create a new culture.’