.Aidan Horgan and Mark Gazi at the TY Enterprise Fair at CBS The Green on Friday morning. Photo by Dermot Crean
THE music and drama room in CBS The Green became a mini-market on Friday morning for the TY Enterprise Fair.
About 70 Transition Years organised the fair with other students from first and second year classes invited at different times during the morning to browse and purchase items.
The students showcased the products and services that they have created and developed as part of the Student Enterprise Programme since the beginning of the school year.
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Friday morning also saw the collection of food items for Foodshare Kerry.
Students were asked to bring in non-perishable food items which were collected by Foodshare Kerry which will be distributed to people in the county over the coming weeks. Scroll down for photos…
Members of the Student Council at CBS The Green with the items collected for Foodshare Kerry on Friday morning. Photo by Dermot Crean.Jack Delaney and Sean Moynihan at the TY Enterprise Fair at CBS The Green on Friday morning. Photo by Dermot CreanTadhg Hegarty, Paddy Lucid, David Chute, Donagh Murphy and Darragh O’Connor with their project ‘Sneachta’ at the TY Enterprise Fair at CBS The Green on Friday morning. Photo by Dermot Crean.Students at the TY Enterprise Fair at CBS The Green on Friday morning. Photo by Dermot CreanRobert Szczupaczynski, Euan O’Sullivan, Sean Morris and Jason Casey at the TY Enterprise Fair at CBS The Green on Friday morning. Photo by Dermot Crean.Teacher Caroline Crowley with students at the TY Enterprise Fair at CBS The Green on Friday morning. Photo by Dermot CreanTiernan O’Carroll and Oran Tobin at the TY Enterprise Fair at CBS The Green on Friday morning. Photo by Dermot Crean
FIVE Kerry enterprises are among 24 nationwide sharing €9.3m in funding under the Regional Enterprise Transition (RET) Scheme.
The fund aims to support regional enterprises and encourage entrepreneurial activity, particularly to those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The five Kerry companies awarded funding under this tranche of the scheme are:
• AgriTech Centre of Excellence
• Firies Business Hub
• Mol Teic Kerry (Dingle Creativity and Innovation Hub)
• RDI Hub Company LTD Killorglin
• Sneem Innovation and Technology Services LTD.
Ministers of State with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Robert Troy TD and Damien English TD today announced the funding this morning. Minster for Education and Kerry Fianna Fáil TD, Norma Foley welcomed the news.
.Rahma Chairi with Alan O’Shea of Alvention Ltd with his Rodfendr product at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean
THE Busy Botanist was the winner of the €5,000 top prize in the annual IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday.
This event provided an ideal opportunity for start-ups to make their pitch for the annual award.
Exhibitors included past and current New Frontiers participants, IT Tralee Research Centres while information on additional supports available through IT Tralee and the Tom Crean Business Centre was also available.
The Busy Botanist creates naturally caffeine free herbal teas packed full of flavour, that improve your health and well being one cup at a time. Scroll down for photos…
The Busy Botanist winners of the €5,000 Enterprise Showcase first prize with Brid McElligott and Dr Oliver Murphy of IT Tralee..Mike Breen of The Wedding Wizard and Tom Fitzmaurice of the Applied IOT at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot CreanCaroline Birch of Wildaway and Alan Ryan of Hardman Events at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean.Aoife Quill of Linn Health and Jack O’Hara and Keith Lyne of Doctonow at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot CreanTamara Banglini of Once Upon A Cheese (right) giving samples to Emil Lindjren, Denise Sheehan and Hannah Park at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean.Secondary and primary school students and entrepreneurs at the Enterprise Showcase on Friday at the ITT.
.Photographed at The Great Southern Hotel in Killarney at The Fuelling Ambition ‘Lead and Suceed’ Roadshow were winners on the night were ‘The Busy Botantist’. From left; Network Ireland President Rosann Heavey, Clair Kelly, The Busy Botanist, Rachel James, Female Entrepeneur Manager, Enterprise Ireland, Joanne Arbon, The Busy Botanist & Aoife ni Mhuiri CEO Salaso. Photograph by Sally MacMonagle.
THE Busy Botanist was the winner of an Elevator Pitch competition worth €3,000 in Killarney recently.
The Elevator Pitch competition offers a cash prize package sponsored by Facebook worth €2,000 at each location, as well as additional prizes worth up to €1,000.
Joanne Arbon and Clair Kelly of The Busy Botanist in Glenbeigh will receive a prize package that is designed to support them on her business journey, including:
• 10 sessions with Enterprise Ireland Mentors and attendance at Enterprise Ireland’s Excel at Export Selling training programme
• Annual membership of Network Ireland
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The Busy Botanist makes a range of herbal drinks to support a healthy lifestyle.
The competition was part of the Fuelling Ambition ‘Lead and Succeed’ Roadshow event in the Great Southern Hotel, Killarney organised by Enterprise Ireland and Network Ireland, in conjunction with the Entrepreneurs Academy, and was attended by business women and entrepreneurs from the South West region.
The Killarney Roadshow was one of a series of free-to-attend events that have taken place across the country during March and April which aim to encourage, support and drive the ambition of female entrepreneurs nationally by showcasing thriving Irish business women and entrepreneurs.
Guest speakers at the event were Aoife Ni Mhuiri of Salaso and representatives from Enterprise Ireland, Network Ireland, Facebook and Entrepreneurs Academy were on hand to discuss the range of supports available to female entrepreneurs and those thinking of starting their own businesses.
The event also provided an opportunity to network with entrepreneurs and business people.
.Michelle Keane of mibeau Interiors with student Mark Deguzman at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean
A LOCAL company was the winner of the Kerry Innovation Challenge at IT Tralee last Friday.
The college hosted its annual Enterprise Showcase where visitors had a chance to talk to those who took the plunge to set up their own business in Kerry including past and current New Frontier participants.
The Kerry Innovation Centre sponsored the Kerry Innovation Challenge – an opportunity for an early stage of start-up business to win €5,000 to help to scale their business.
In the end it was Storystock, with Tralee man Francis Fitzgibbon as Chief Executive, which won the €5,000.
Sarah Garland, Francis Fitzgibbon and Daniel Batchelor of Storystock at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean
StoryStock.com is building a global community of journalists and content creators who are uploading stories and content from all over the world to StoryStock.com. The company then licenses these stories to media and brands. Scroll down for photos…
.Massimiliano and Tamara Bagaglini of Once Upon A Cheese at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot CreanMary Kelly and Jo Arbon of The Busy Botanist at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean.Joanna Kelly of Digital Greetings at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot CreanCaroline Birch of Wild Adventure Way at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean.Sean Foran of Sean Foran Mindset at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot CreanGearoid Kearney and Miriam O’Sullivan of MyAccessHub at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean.Cliff Fee of Mobility Genie at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot CreanDr Catherine Molyneaux of Early Childhood Social at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean.Paul Walker of Blair House Farm Charcuterie at the IT Tralee Enterprise Showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean
.Eileen Collery, Bank of Ireland National Enterprise Town Programme Manager andDavid Merriman, Head of Enterprise Development at Bank of Ireland (both centre) are pictured alongside Bank of Ireland’s National Enterprising Town Awards judges (L-R) Jacqui Gollogly, Tom Hayes, Tom Dowling, Kate O’Donnell, Tom Coughlan, Tim O’Neill and Eddie Breen.
TRALEE will compete in the Bank of Ireland National Enterprising Town Competition with a total prize fund of €110,000.
Bank of Ireland’s national competition to find the country’s most enterprising town is set to reach its climax, with 78 entries from 31 local/city authority areas vying to be crowned Bank of Ireland’s National Enterprising Town Winner 2017.
By entering the National Enterprising Town Awards Competition, each town/city village/urban area has an opportunity to focus on the strengths of their town and to present their town in the best possible light with a common voice.
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In Kerry, Listowel and Tralee are competing in various categories which will include regional runner-up, regional winner, city award, merit awards, national category winners and the overall national winner.
With a total prize fund of €110,000, over 30 cash prizes will be awarded to various winners.
The overall winning town, city village or urban area will be awarded total prize money of €23,000, a trophy and the prestigious title of Bank of Ireland’s National Enterprising Town 2017.
The judging panel will visit each of the local organising committees from late August through to mid-October with the winners announced at an awards ceremony in November. The judges will consider a range of factors which demonstrate enterprising spirit and success including;
· The Enterprising Town – local enterprise initiatives, business groups, innovations in the community and social enterprises;
· Attractiveness of the town – welcome signage, appearance, parking and accessibility;
· Partnerships and reaching out – collaboration with local councils and agencies, joint initiatives between businesses, diaspora engagement and twinning;
· Town leadership and vision – innovative forward thinking and planning to support enterprise development;
· Community support – support for local businesses’ key services and culture, sports, heritage, environment;
· Awards or recognitions that the town or city village/area has achieved.
Frank Shaw, Bank of Ireland, Head of County Kerry said; “As Ireland’s Enterprise Bank, we recognise that SME’s, start-ups and community organisations are a significant driver of the overall prosperity of the city or county. Local business owners and community groups want to see their town doing well, and there is nothing like a bit of healthy competition to motivate people to put their best foot forward. We want to recognise and reward those places where small businesses and community groups are working together with their local council and state agencies to promote enterprise in their area.”
Prize Fund
Overall National Winner (1) — €15,000
City Award (1) — €5,000
Regional Runner-Up — 12 x €2,000 Awards — €24,000
Regional Winners — 12 x €3,000 Awards — €36,000
National Category Winners — 3 x €5,000 Awards — €15,000
Merit Awards — Judges discretion — up to €15,000 in total
.Niamh Daffy, Cara Centre, and Jerry Daffy with Eileen McNamara from Bank of Ireland at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Towns event at the Castle Street on Wednesday evening. Photo by Dermot Crean
A HUGE crowd turned up in Bank of Ireland, Castle Street on Wednesday night for the launch of Tralee Enterprise Town.
The launch, which had Mayor of Tralee, Terry O’Brien in attendance, saw businesses, sports clubs, charities and community organisations from all over the town register to showcase their organisations at the Event which will be held in Tralee Sports & Leisure Complex on Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6.
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Similar events in Castleisland and Listowel have been enormous successes and its hoped Tralee will emulate them.
Gerry Enright, Branch Manager, Bank of Ireland, officially launching the event, spoke of his great pride that Tralee had been selected to host the event this year.
He said that this was a huge opportunity for all organisations to celebrate and showcase everything that Tralee has to offer.
Geraldine Enright, Regional Enterprise Programme Manager for Munster, gave some background to the Enterprise Town initiative and called on all Tralee organisations to make Tralee Enterprise Town the best yet.
Stands are free of charge to exhibitors but spaces are limited so if you are involved in Business, Sport or the Community your organisation should register as soon as possible.
To register please contact Eileen McNamara at Eileen.mcnamara@boi.com or at 076 6240590. Scroll down for photos from the launch…
Michele King, The Rose Hotel, Mags O’Sullivan, The AquaDome, Triona Houlihan, Tralee Chamber Alliance, Chris Shortt, Tralee Advertiser, Sandra Leahy, Kerry County Museum, Noel Ryan, Kerry Airport at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Towns event at the Castle Street on Wednesday evening. Photo by Dermot Crean.Jim White, Bank Of Ireland, Robert Babington, Cleas Design, DIarmuid Murphy PacWeb TV and Eimear Carey, Bank of Ireland, at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Towns event at the Castle Street on Wednesday evening. Photo by Dermot CreanDonal O’Sullivan, Probus and Grace O’Donnell, GoKerry, at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Towns event at the Castle Street on Wednesday evening. Photo by Dermot Crean.Monica Mikolajczuk, Chopins and Noreen McElligott, Bank of Ireland at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Towns event at the Castle Street on Wednesday evening. Photo by Dermot CreanKate Campbell of Kate Campbell Interiors and Marie O’Sullivan, Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Towns event at the Castle Street on Wednesday evening. Photo by Dermot Crean.Doireann Barrett, The Gluten Free Kitchen Company, Maura Sheehy, Maura’s Cottage Flowers and Catriona Py Collins, CPC Marketing Consultants at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Towns event at the Castle Street on Wednesday evening. Photo by Dermot CreanElaine O’Keeffe, Bank Of Ireland and Anna Dokurno, Web Design, at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Towns event at the Castle Street on Wednesday evening. Photo by Dermot Crean.The crowd at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Towns event at the Castle Street on Wednesday evening. Photo by Dermot Crean
Anne O’Riordan, SKDP with Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) Enterprise Award (South Region) finalists James Sheehan, James’ Barber Shop (Killorglin) and Kataryna and Tomasz Gwis of K&T Bakery & Cafe (Cahersiveen) and Noel Spillane, CEO SKDP at the IDLN South Enterprise Awards in Cork. Pic: Diane Cusack
A KERRY business was one of three winners at the regional finals of The Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) Enterprise Awards (South Region).
With stiff competition from entrepreneurs in Waterford, Cork and Kerry, the finalists were chosen based on their commercial and operational success to date. The winning businesses were nominated by their local development companies and many were supported directly by the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance Scheme also.
K&T Bakery in Cahersiveen was deemed a winner along with Loughbeg Farm and Integrate.
K&T Bakery was nominated by South Kerry Development Partnership. Polish couple Katarzyna and Tomasz Gwis are bread making experts with a family heritage in bread making.
They established the K&T Bakery in 2014 in Cahersiveen and have recently opened a Restaurant and Café in the town now also. They employ 15 staff now in total.
Other Kerry nominees were The Gluten Free Kitchen in Tralee, Maura’s Cottage Flowers, Tralee and James’ Barber Shop, Killorglin.
“All the companies and entrepreneurs here today at the ILDN South Enterprise Awardsare winners in reality. With great determination, business acumen and market and product knowledge, these companies have successfully transitioned from startups to successful businesses. The benefit of the support on the ground of local development partnership companies and the Dept. of Social Protection Back to Work schemes they received, is exemplified by the achievement of the Regional Awards today, and congratulations to Loughbeg Farm, Integreat and K&T Bakery for their success,” said Eamonn O’Reilly, Chair of ILDN South Region and CEO of North, East, West Kerry Development (NEWKD).
Hosted at the Ambassador Hotel on Military Hill, Cork, the entrepreneurs and their companies were judged by Veronica Murphy Discovery Partnership, Paul Healy of the CIT Rubicon Centre and Seamus Hayes of Fitzwilliam Training & Consulting.
The three regional winners now go forward to represent the Southern region at the National ILDN Awards which takes place in Dublin on 15 September 2016.
.Launching the new Enterprise Awards scheme at Aras an Phobail in Tralee last Thursday were Robert Carey, Margaret Dalaney, Noel Spillane, Joanne Griffin, Ailish Hanrahan and Eamon O’Reilly.
KERRY enterprises that have set up their businesses with assistance from the local development companies and Dept. of Social Protection through the Back to Work Area Enterprise Allowance Scheme (BTWEA) are being offered the opportunity to get national recognition for their efforts through a newly launched Enterprise Awards programme.
South Kerry Development Partnership and North East & West Kerry Development have this week launched a bid to find four candidate enterprises to represent the county at the Southern Regional Enterprise Awards event with the potential to progress right through and claim the overall national Enterprise award.
Speaking at the launch of the Kerry event this week, SKDP CEO Noel Spillane said the awards, which are being run in conjunction with the Irish Local Development Network, provide an excellent opportunity for Kerry to showcase the many successful new enterprises that have been set up in the county with support of the local development companies & the Dept. of Social Protection through the BTWEA over the last few years.
“We regularly hear about business closures but this awards programme gives us a chance to celebrate business success and recognise the hard work and vision of small enterprise owners in Kerry,” Noel said.
Both SKDP and NEWKD operate the Back to Work/Short Term Enterprise Allowance scheme in conjunction with the Department of Social Protection that provides support, advice and some small grant assistance to unemployed people wishing to set up their own business.
TraleeToday.ie is just one of many businesses which has benefitted from the assistance of NEWKD in the past few years.
The scheme has proven to be a tremendous success with a high percentage of the businesses set up through the programme still operating after five years.
NEWKD CEO Eamon O’Reilly said that this new awards initiative is open to businesses set up through this scheme since 2011 and he encouraged all eligible businesses to enter the competition. “These businesses are the backbone of rural Ireland in particular and we are delighted to be involved with this initiative to promote them at a regional and national level” Eamon said.
The closing date for applications is Friday, 29th April and the application form is available to download from both the SKDP www.southkerry.ie and NEWKD www.newkd.ie websites or by contacting your local SKDP or NEWKD office directly. The national awards ceremony will take place in Dublin in September.
FORTY new jobs, to be situated at a Killarney company, have been announced this morning worth an extra €2.4m to local economy.
In all, 100 new jobs are to be created by Killarney based manufacturing and engineering group, Tricel, with 40 of these to be situated in the company’s headquarters in Killarney.
The new jobs, including graduate positions, will bolster the existing workforce of 250 based in Ireland, UK and France over the next 18 months and will strengthen operations in management, engineering, R&D, product development, marketing and manufacturing.
Exports at the company have increased to over 70% of turnover in just eight years and growth of over 65% in last five years. Tricel currently employs 100 people in Killarney.
This project is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland.
Tricel is a European leader in the development and manufacture of advanced and specialised composite products from water storage tanks and wastewater treatment systems to construction and building products as well as specialist moulding and filler products for the manufacturing and automotive industries.
The new jobs also mean that the company will invest in more resources to facilitate its expansion across the company and it is hoped that many of the new graduate positions could be filled from local third level colleges in the Munster region.
Originally known as Killarney Plastics which was founded in Killarney in 1973, Tricel also established further operations in UK in 1993 and in France in 2011 from where it won ‘Best Irish Company in France’ award in 2012.
From 2010 to 2013 the company saw growth of 57% with an extra 75 jobs created then and has forecasted turnover to double in the next four years. This will be achieved by the continuing expansion into new markets and through the introduction of new and innovative products into recently newfound markets throughout Europe, Middle East, Australia and the American continents
Tricel Managing Director Mike Stack said: “Our main success and expansion was actually fuelled by the recession in Ireland which had a detrimental effect on our Irish market which forced us to increase focus on our existing UK market and also on further export markets. We bucked the trend and backed ourselves by making a multimillion euro investment in R&D and plant & machinery within this period.
“Amongst our biggest business achievements during this time was the fact in 2007 we exported 5% of our turnover and were highly dependent on the Irish construction market. By 2013 our exports had increased to 70% of our turnover. This investment has led to continuous process and design improvements which have ensured our current and future success. Being a privately family owned business we pride ourselves in supporting the local economy and where possible, local manufacturers and service providers are the preferred supplier choice. We’re very grateful for the assistance we’ve received from the Government through Enterprise Ireland which has really helped us grow our business and exports to help create these jobs”.
The Stack family were keen to point out that a game changer and turning point for the company was when they made the decision to enter the environmental market with a domestic waste water treatment system. As the success of this product became apparent in Ireland they made the decision to manufacture it in modular form which would allow it to be transported overseas at a competitive cost. This eventually led to the decision to assemble the product in their Gloucester factory to service the UK market and to open a purpose built assembly factory in France to service the French market.
