Minister launches new enterprise plan on visit to Skibbereen

THE Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD, today launched a new South-West Regional Enterprise Plan to 2020 at the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen, along with Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Michael Creed TD, and the Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly TD.

The South-West Plan identifies six strategic objectives, with actions to: build capability and resilience in the region’s enterprise base; develop the region’s enterprise hubs; leverage opportunities through business clustering and internationalisation; increase the capacity of the tourism sector; support growth in the region’s marine and maritime sector; and ensure the availability of skills and talent to underpin growth potential.

Speaking at the Ludgate Hub, which was recently approved almost €2million in funding under her Department’s Regional Enterprise Development Fund, Minister Humphreys, said: ‘The collaboration in evidence here at the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen is a superb example of what these new regional enterprise plans are fundamentally about.’ 

While in Skibbereen, she also announced the recipients of the first call of the new online retail scheme, which is delivered for the government by Enterprise Ireland.

The scheme recipients were announced by the Minister at CH Marine, a marine supply store based in Skibbereen, and one of the 11 successful recipients under the €1.25m fund, which is targeted at online retailers to strengthen their online offering to enable them to reach a wider customer base.

Her visit to Skibbereen was also due to include a visit to O’Donnell Design.