Cork Local Enterprise Offices create hundreds of jobs each year
CLIENT companies of Cork County Council’s Local Enterprise Offices (LEO’s) have announced the creation of 258 jobs in 2017.
The Cork North and West and South Cork LEO’s also granted €1.19 million of financial supports in 2017 for manufacturing and internationally-traded micro-enterprises throughout the county.
The announcement was made at the launch of this year’s Local Enterprise Week which runs from March 5th to 9th with dozens of events taking place throughout the county. Local Enterprise Week is aimed at anyone thinking of starting a business, new start-ups and growing SMEs.
Throughout 2017, Cork County LEO’s delivered training to more than 2,320 people through their 152 business training programmes including Start Your Own Business programmes, Management Development courses, Kickstart Your Food Business, Women in Business, Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur programme, and social media courses.
The offices also engaged with 39 Schools and more than 4,100 Transition Year students who participate in their Schools Enterprise Programme which promotes entrepreneurship.
A further 744 business owners received mentoring through the LEO’s unique mentoring programme which connects appointed mentors from a cross section of professions to business owners.
Among the events being hosted throughout Local Enterprise Week will be a Women in Business event on International Women’s Day on March 8th with speakers including Marissa Carter, Cocoa Brown Tan, and author and communications maven Terry Prone, a Design Led Thinking Seminar in Vienna Woods on March 8th aimed at Cork crafters and designers and a business finance seminar on March 9th at the Ludgate Hub.
Speaking of the growth in supports provided and upcoming Local Enterprise Week, Sean O’Sullivan, Head of Enterprise, LEO South Cork said, “2017 was one of our most successful years in terms of grant funding which has led to the creation of almost 260 jobs for the region. Co. Cork is on the up and we are proud to support our business owners and entrepreneurs who are committed to creating jobs and growing their businesses.
“Local Enterprise Week is a great opportunity for Cork businesses to discover the range of supports the LEO’s have to offer and we look forward to welcoming more than 2,000 people to our events”.
Kevin Curran, Head of Enterprise LEO Cork North & West said, “Our offices combined aided hundreds of Cork businesses in 2017 and our aim is to improve on this in 2018. With so many innovative new businesses in our midst we are confident that this year will see a further upturn in demand for our supports.
“Day to day we deal with a broad range of businesses from food to craft, technology and retail and I believe we have something for everyone in our Enterprise Week line up.”
Most events are free of charge and can be booked through Cork’s Local Enterprise Office websites with early booking recommended. Follow LEO on social media or search #localenterprise.