Helping women to succeed in business
WEXFORD Local Enterprise Office has lined up two successful female entrepreneurs to address members of the Women in Business Network in January and February.
On Thursday, January 28, the online network will be addressed by Paula Fitzsimons, founder of Fitzsimons Consulting.
Paula is the national coordinator for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research project in Ireland and was appointed by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment to the SME and Entrepreneurship Taskforce in 2020.
Female business owners in Wexford will know Paula as the driving force behind Going for Growth, which is focused on peer support to assist women who wish to grow their businesses. Going for Growth is supported by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG.
Paula also designed and developed ACORNS to support early stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland. This initiative is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and 200 participants are currently being supported through it.
An additional project is Back for Business, a tailored initiative for returning emigrants who have recently established a new business or are
planning to do so. Back for Business is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
On February 25, Larissa Feeney, founder of the award-winning Accountant Online, will speak about her journey from sole practitioner to a firm of chartered and certified accountants serving over 1,800 clients across Ireland and the UK. Larissa leads a team of accounting professionals who work both remotely and in offices in Dublin and Letterkenny. A pioneer in using cloud technology in accountancy, the company has won many awards, most recently in 2020, winning Irish Accountancy Awards for ‘Medium Practice of the Year’ and overall ‘Practice of the Year’.
A voluntary Lead Entrepreneur for ACORNS, Larissa is a previous participant of the Going for Growth initiative, and is on the mentor panel of both Donegal LEO and Enterprise Ireland.
‘We’re delighted that both Paula and Larissa, leaders in their fields in terms of female entrepreneurship, will share their insights with the Women in Business Network,’ said Breege Cosgrave, senior enterprise development officer with the Local Enterprise Office at Wexford County Council.
‘We’re keen to facilitate peer support for female entrepreneurs and the Network provides a forum for that support. Essentially, the Network aims to grow and support female entrepreneurship in Wexford. This is in line with one of Enterprise Ireland’s key objectives in its Action Plan for Women in Business.’
In line with Covid-19 public health protocols, the network is running online for now, with free Zoom meetings monthly and a dedicated Facebook group called Local Enterprise Office Wexford Women in Business Network.
The free January Network meeting is on Zoom on Thursday, January 28, at 2 p.m. In February, the group will meet on Thursday, February 25, at 11.30 a.m. See www.localenterprise. ie/Wexford to book a place.