LEADER grants will create 250 new jobs for County Wexford
AS many as 250 new jobs are to be created across the county as a result of the latest round of LEADER Grants.
A total of €1.58m has been distributed to 26 businesses by Wexford Local Community Development Committee (WLCDC), in partnership with Wexford Local Development (WLD), to facilitate business expansion and diversification.
The businesses chosen include niche food producers, tourism enterprises, creative industries and specialised engineering services. In addition to creating new jobs, the funding will also sustain up to 725 existing jobs and have a significant impact on the economy of County Wexford in both urban and rural areas.
Catering service Freshtoday provides school meals for students across the county and it was heavily involved in implementing the switch from cold to hot food last year.
Its Enniscorthy-based branch has received funding of €60,366.44 to purchase specialised equipment to allow for the roll out of the hot meals scheme in schools across the region.
In addition to the numerous benefits to the school community, the hot food service also provides a boost to employment in the local area, Managing Director of Freshtoday Wexford, Brian McGee said, ‘Within each school we will be hiring a local member of the community to oversee the distribution of lunches. These roles are a great opportunity for parents with school-aged children to work within school hours, negating the need for childcare arrangements.
‘We are delighted to support the local community by job creation and the opportunity to upskill, retrain and get back into employment.’
Although schools are currently closed, Freshtoday is ensuring children can continue to avail of its services by delivering provision boxes directly to students’ homes.
‘This is an incredibly difficult time for so many parents and we are committed to trying to ease the burden as best we can,’ said Brian. ‘We have also included a Freshtoday/ AsIAm approved Autism Resource Learning Activity worksheet in every provision box in an effort to increase autism awareness and inclusivity, through fun based learning.’
Meanwhile, Wexford Bus has received a LEADER grant of €67,269.67 to help with the supply and installation of an environmentally friendly vehicle wash system.
Facilities Manager at Wexford Bus, Claire O’Rourke, explained how this new system will benefit customers.
‘We have committed to a process of continuous improvement in all areas that we can have an impact. This project that LEADER is part funding is an element of that plan, it will allow us to capture over 90 per cent of the wash water and process it through a recycling system,’ Claire said.
‘We plan to utilise well water for the remaining 10 per cent allowing us to wash our vehicles without using any treated mains water. Delivering on our environmental and climate change commitments is going to need significant capital investment and we are very grateful to LEADER for their help in turning this piece of ambition into a reality.’
Of course, this wash new system is even more timely given the rules and regulations which all transport operators must now adhere to. And Claire said the Covid-19 pandemic has proved challenging for all at Wexford Bus.
‘We take pride in presenting a clean fleet for passenger comfort, but suddenly in March 2020, extremely high standards of infection control were necessary to protect the health of our staff, passengers and the wider community, she explained.
‘Significant research and consultation went into ensuring that our fleet care plan would minimise any risk of enabling transmission of infection. This included installation of protective screens and allocating additional resources to ensure that every touch point is disinfected at the end of every service to name a few.’
Funding of €194,037.13 will enable family-owned business Ryans Bakery to build and fitout a new bakery at its premises in the Whitemill Industrial Estate.
‘The move will allow us to overcome space constraints which in turn enables us to grow and expand while keeping a safe comfortable working environment for our staff,’ explained Company Director and founder, Tim Ryan.
‘This will enable our production capacity to expand along with increasing the scope of our product lines. This expansion will help streamline the business and enable further job creation.
Although Covid-19 restrictions could hamper construction, Tim said work has already begun on the building project and he is hopeful it will be completed by the end of the year.
However, regardless of how much Ryans Bakery grows, he is keen to ensure it maintains the traditions and values it has become renowned for.
‘Keeping the family atmosphere is always important to us. While the move would allow us to have more output, our intention is to never lose sight of where we started. We hope to continue to grow with our community.’
Thanking Tom Bermingham of the LEADER programme for his assistance, Tim said that, despite a difficult year, sales had remained healthy and attributed that to the loyalty of their customers and the dedication of their staff.
Bianca Divito is an architectural glass artist based in Coolgreaney. She creates bespoke glass designs from her studio in The Old School House in Knockgreany and is now preparing to expand her business to include workshops and training seminars.
LEADER funding of €18,097 will enable her to develop a workshop/studio for glass art sales and training and a glass kiln to facilitate increased productivity.
Not only will this money be used to expand Divito Studios, it will also help to restore one of the areas most beloved buildings. Bianca and her family live in a school house built in the 1930s and have begun work on conserving and restoring the building to its former glory, and the LEADER funding will help accelerate some of those works.
‘To accommodate a growth in my glass art business I sought and successfully secured LEADER funding which will partly fund the conversion works of the original bike shed,’ Bianca explained.
‘We will be building a beautiful gallery space where I will showcase my glass art features and gift items and also create an area in which to facilitate glass workshops for the tourist market.’
An established member of Wexford Walking Trails (WWT), Bianca hopes her new studio and other local businesses can be incorporated into the trails.
‘I will produce a variety of workshops to suit both tourists and glass enthusiasts visiting WWT as well as Ireland’s Ancient East,’ she said. ‘My studio is ideally located as the first stop on The Wexford Craft Trail and I will be linking in with many other local businesses in the area like The Lavender Farm, Grainne Kenny Design and The WoodTurning Studio in Gorey.’