LEADER and Teagasc offices could boost non-traditional businesses

LEADER and Teagasc offices should be used as incubation premises by farmers and rural entrepreneurs to develop new non-traditional businesses, according to a report by the National Rural Network (NRN) at the Tipperary Institute.

Resident business experts in these loci would also act as mentors for these start-up businesses, suggests the report.

Authored by Dr Pat Bogue of the NRN, this in-depth, 40-page report analyses rural regeneration subjects ranging from micro-enterprise supports and rural broadband schemes, to training and agri-tourism.