Minutes of the Louth Economic Forum Wednesday, 3 rd February pm Cooley Room, Louth Local Authorities

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1 Minutes of the Louth Economic Forum Wednesday, 3 rd February pm Cooley Room, Louth Local Authorities Attendance: 1. Padraic A. White Chair Louth Economic Forum 2. Conn Murray Louth County Council 3. Ray Carroll Chair, Tourism & Heritage Forum 4. Declan Meally S.E.A.I 5. Conor Fahy Enterprise Ireland 6. Niall O Lamhna Teagasc 7. Ronan Dennedy Louth County Enterprise Board 8. Conor Fahy Enterprise Ireland 9. Jim Malone Ardee Business Community 10. Malachy McCloskey Chair, Age Friendly Business Forum 11. Paddy Malone Chair, Dundalk Economic Forum 12. Michael A. Curran Louth County Council 13. Michael McCabe Louth County Council 14. Edel O Mahony Louth County Council 15. Joan Martin Louth County Council 16. Frank Pentony Louth County Council Apologies: 1. Ray Kelly FÁS 2. Kevin Kidney Failte Ireland 3. Graham Hughes Chair, Drogheda Economic Forum 4. Graham O Rourke Drogheda Economic Forum 5. Ronan Dennedy Louth County Enterprise Board 6. Denis Cummins DkIT 7. Michael Curran Louth County Council Agenda: 1. Minutes of the meeting of 24 th November, Matters Arising 3. Presentation on SME Development in Louth 4. Draft Tourism & Heritage Action Plan 1

2 5. Age Friendly Business Forum 6. Update on the follow up of published Action Plans Foreign Direct Investment Sustainable Energy Indigenous Industry Business Support Unit 7. AOB 8. Next Forum meeting Minutes The minutes of the previous meeting of the 24 th November 2010 were agreed. Matters Arising Padraic White welcomed all the members of the Forum to the meeting, in particular welcoming new members Jim Malone representing Ardee Business Community, replacing John Kieran who has stepped down, Malachy McCloskey, Chair of the Age Friendly Business Forum, Joan Martin Town Clerk Drogheda Borough Council and Frank Pentony Town Clerk Dundalk Town Council. Padraic informed the Forum that Pat Doherty has retired from the IDA and his position is being temporarily covered by Joe McHugh the North West Regional Manager. Patricia Rooney has also stepped down from the Forum. Padraic expressed his thanks and gratitude to Pat, Patricia and John for their commitment and hard work during their time in the Forum. Presentation on SME Development in Louth First Project A presentation was given to the Forum by Colm Hyland and Colm Fitzpatrick of Hosca Ireland. They provide a full learning solution for Small businesses that don t have the time to look after themselves; and don t have the time for personal development. Hosca provides technology, sales & marketing, leadership, dedicated account manager and admin support, helps lines, knowledge management systems, advice and coaching to support systems. Key points on the presentation include: - Process Overview of the development process of a SME - The Customers are companies that fall outside the usual areas such as SME s, not EI high exporter or County Enterprise Board Start ups. - Clusters such as artisan food companies, light engineering, Cleantech etc 2

3 - Development Process through personal development and support, management development, feedback and the options for innovation and growth. Thought leaders programme, facilitating from the side, it particularly applies to the tourism industry. - Support Networks such as Enterprise Ireland, Chamber of Commerce, County Councils, LEF, County Enterprise Board, local Multinationals and Indigenous, Ulster bank, DkIT are interested, there roles are to provide funding, identify potential participants, provide business opportunities, plus provide mentors. - Next Steps are to firm up on First project, agree a consortium, agree scope, plan and launch. - Costs for the first project aims for around 15 companies, Participants pay 500 with company costs of 8000 which will be funded. Key discussion points raised were as follows: Some of the key issues faced by SME s are isolation, time for personal development, lack of market research and finance. Hosca Consulting First Project model can assist in filling in these gaps. Assistance is mainly required around the areas of technology, sales and marketing, leadership skills and finance. The tourism industry would in particular welcome supports in this area. The Enterprise Ireland network cannot assist these areas as they are not EI clients. It is important that SME s connect up to the outside world and engage with a peer network. It was highlighted that farming is very much part of the SME sector. Teagasc runs an options programme open to all farmers with an advisory service from Teagasc officers. It is a form of a support network. Is this Hosca model a vehicle for this group to pilot for SME s outside of EI remit? It was agreed by the Forum that a mentor network needs to be established in line with an objective of the Indigenous Industry Action Plan. Malachy McCloskey volunteered to mentor a non rural business. It was agreed that every member of the Forum would provide / recommend a mentor and this will form a panel. Conor Fahy has agreed to follow this up with the assistance of Edel. 3

4 Tourism and Heritage Forum Update It was advised that the draft Action Plan was presented to the Council on the 17 th of January last and has subsequently been adopted by both Council and the County Development Board. The launch of the Tourism and Heritage Action Plan is taking place on the February 16 th at Darver Castle at 3pm. It will be officially launched by Eamonn McKeon, CEO of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC). All Members of the Forum are encouraged to attend to give support. Work is on going in relation to the development of the website. Louth County Council and Fáilte Ireland will be providing technical support for the website. No local statistical information exists with regard to tourism in the county. Denis Cummins in DkIT has made an offer to put in place an internship to collect this statistical data and develop a modus operandi for all the trade. Louth participated in two Holiday World Shows in Dublin and Belfast which were a great success. Age Friendly Business Forum Update The Age Friendly Business Forum has been established and is currently working at agreeing the contents of their action plan. It was agreed to carry out a base line survey / research with local businesses on age friendly awareness and the products and services. An application was submitted to IFI for funding for a Men in Sheds programme for Louth. News on funding will be received by the end of February. Declan Meally is leading a working group to establish an Age friendly recognition charter for Louth. The Age Friendly WHO International conference is coming to Dublin in September which will be made up of approx 400 delegates from municipalities all over the world. Louth, Kildare and Kilkenny will be showcased at the event. Sustainable Energy Task Group Update Working groups have been established to replicate Drogheda (site to include Drogheda Hospital) and Ardee The Energy Saving Internship Programme phase 1 has been a huge success. Savings of 220k have been made in the last 4 months of the programme with estimated over all savings of 800 for companies who participated in the programme. 4

5 Phase II of the programme is being rolled out in March. Companies will be required to submit the last 12 months of energy bills in advance if they want to participate in the programme. Declan Meally is to draft a letter to Barry O Leary with regard to the development of IDA site in Dundalk as a flagship green business park and the development of the green IFSC to Drogheda. There is an opportunity to host a conference on the Isles Project (Irish, Scottish Links on Energy Study). The Forum will need to make a decision as to whether they will host this conference and when. Indigenous Industry Task Group Update The Discovery Zone pilot programme run by the Regional Development Centre is now complete and has been a great success. Monaghan and Cavan are looking at the role out of the programme now. It has been agreed to run a 2 nd programme in Louth in May. Enterprise Ireland has established an Age Friendly specific division to encourage the development of software and solutions in this area. Enterprise Ireland held a food development workshop in Louth. Jim Mulcahy has been invited to address the Forum at its next meeting to assist with the establishment of the Agriculture, Food and Fisheries Action Plan. Innovation vouchers are actively being promoted and we are starting to see good traction on take up of vouchers. AOB Louth Local Authorities and Newry and Mourne District Council has now finalised the Memorandum of Understanding which is the first cross jurisdiction local government strategic alliance of its kind. Further details on the MOU will be presented to the Forum in the near future. Date of the next meeting: The next meeting will take place on Thursday the 10 th of March at 4pm in the Cooley Room, Louth County Council, County Hall, Dundalk. 5

6 MONTHLY ACTION PLAN NO ACTION RESPONSILBILTY STATUS 1. Presentation on Prepared Consumer Edel O Mahony March meeting Goods Dept. Enterprise Ireland 2. Presentation on MOU Conn Murray March meeting 3. Age Friendly Business Forum Update Edel O Mahony March meeting 4. Mentor Panel Programme Update Conor / Edel March meeting 5. Draft letter to Barry O Leary Declan Meally March meeting 6. Action Plan progress updates Declan Meally Conor Fahy Ray Carroll Monthly progress update required 7. First draft Education & Training Action Plan Presentation 8. Presentation on draft Making Louth the Best County to do Business Denis Cummins Michael McCabe April meeting April meeting 6