Nurturing start-ups key to sustaining viability of local communities
Cork County Council’s Local Enterprise Offices promoting a campaign aimed at helping small businesses to save, time, money and energy. The ‘All in A Day’s Work’ campaign was formally launched by Neale Richmond, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, and combines three business support programmes, including Lean for Business, Green for Business, and Digital for Business. Pictured at the local launch were: Kevin Curran, Head of Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office Cork North & West, Susan Robbins-Fehily, Wildberry Bakery, The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Frank O’Flynn, and Tom Fehily, Wildberry Bakery. Pic: Brian Lougheed
For centuries in Ireland, local authorities and councils have worked to improve and facilitate the economic development of its regions.
Building roads, developing market squares and new piers are just some of the physical pieces of infrastructure which have improved local economies. However councils have also played a major role in the development of enterprise and companies.
Cork County Council has a long history of providing such services. It has worked side by side with local entrepreneurs to establish and grow their firms, many of which The county is noted worldwide for its attractiveness to multinational giants particularly in the pharmaceutical industry with firms like Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnsons all having long established bases here.
However Cork also hosts a vibrant indigenous community of companies and startups that has evolved in recent years from traditional manufacturing and food into high tech areas such as artificial intelligence.
In the early 1990s the Enterprise Boards were established to further the work of previous support programmes. This year, marks the tenth anniversary of enterprise boards coming under the remit of Enterprise Ireland and their functions carried out by local authorities.
As the largest local authority on the country, Cork County Council operates two Local Enterprise Offices, Cork North & West and Cork South.
Training, mentorship and financial supports are just some of the services they provide.
Many companies to utilise the supports of the LEOs are household names today. West Cork Distillers, Irish Yoghurts, Glenisk, Bensons Workwear and Saturdays Pizza.
Deirdre O’Mahony, Senior Enterprise Development Officer at the Cork North & West LEO and the acting Head of Enterprise, said Cork County Council was ahead of its time in many regards when it came to the development of enterprise boards. The authority has a long history of committed support for business.
“We have seen significant changes in the types of businesses and the sectors they operate, particularly since 2010. Prior to that it was largely companies operating across food and traditional manufacturing,” she said.
“However, the digital and information revolution that we have seen since then across the world has happened here in Cork as well. By that change, the nature of business has changed.
“In recent years, we have seen a massive emergence in technology start-ups in Cork. Smart technology, new platforms and advanced tech using AI. These are alongside the traditional businesses.
“We still have traditional manufacturing and food businesses. What we have noticed about food is that it can be quite cyclical. In times of recession the number of food start-ups increases and then it levels off again. During Covid, we had another upsurge in food businesses before it plateaued.”
Last year, Cork County LEOs organised more than 200 business training courses, reaching 2,700 business owners. A further 226 entrepreneurs participated in 18 specialist "Start Your Own Business" Programmes. More than 1,000 business owners also benefited from free business advice clinics and mentoring sessions on various topics, including costing, marketing, exports, and more.
Also in 2023, businesses in the region were approved for more than €2m in grant aid and financial supports. More than half of this was for business expansion, with micro enterprise clients in manufacturing and internationally trading services creating 167 new jobs last year.
The services provided by the LEOs are almost endless; business advice, education, female entrepreneurship, youth entrepreneurship, senior entrepreneurship, mentoring, marketing, networking, physical work spaces, grants and micro finance loans.
Some of the companies to benefit include:
One example of the types of companies that the Local Enteprise Office helps is SimpleStudy, a West-Cork-based platform that is changing the game for secondary-level students preparing for state exams.
The company was founded by Oisin Devoy and Philip McKenna. It provides a personalised and fun way to study for exams, helping students improve their results by making exam revision easier.
Since launching, more than 26,000 students have used their platform to prepare for Leaving and Junior Cert exams in Ireland. This year they expanded to Scotland and are eyeing expansion to France, Italy and India this year.
The Council’ LEO office supported SimpleStudy providing various supports, including mentoring, priming, and business expansion grants.
Founded by Peigin Crowley in 2020 during the covid pandemic, Ground Wellbeing produces a range of spa-treatment products. With the support of the LEO the company was able to navigate the challenges of not only covid but also Brexit which was extremely difficult for a startup with eyes on the export market.
“LEO Cork South have been instrumental in supporting me when Covid first stuck, with the Trading Online Voucher and with Business Continuity Support,” Crowley said. “I have also been approved for a Business Priming Grant and I got advice on brand set up and strategy.”
A family business since 2017, Wildberry produces award-winning, gluten-free, baked goods. It was founded by Susan Robbins and Tom Fehily, and is based in Ballineen.
They availed of many supports from the LEO over the years, but gained particular benefit from the Lean programme, which they described as a game changer for a business growing from a small café and shop to a commercial business.
Founded in 2017 by owner Norma Kelly, Praline began as a small pastry shop and café under the creative direction of owner Norma Kelly. Today her business offers an array of French pastries, cake slices, sandwiches, handmade artisan chocolate truffles and bars, all handcrafted in their state of the art kitchen using fresh, locally sourced ingredients. 2020 during covid was a transformative year where Praline availed of a LEO Trading Online Voucher to grow the business.
Ms O’Mahony said that they provided €1.1m in grants from the Cork North & West LEO last year including business expansion grants, export grants and trading online grants.
“Recently we are also making a push on competitiveness and decarbonisation. Helping firms to make them leaner and more sustainable not only for new companies but also dealing with existing businesses,” she said.
One of the highlights of the work of LEOs was during Covid crisis when so many businesses were closed due to lockdowns. The LEOs in Cork were at the forefront in supporting businesses to make the move to trading online.
In 2020, 750 companies applied for Business Continuity Vouchers through the County LEOs. Similarly, when the lockdowns were lifted and restrictions eased, the Council LEOs were there again, administering Restart Grants from a €250m national fund. The grant was used to defray ongoing fixed costs, to replenish stock and for measures needed to ensure employee and customer safety.
Almost 2,000 businesses across the county applied for the grant with the County Council rolling out its countywide reactivation programme Project ACT, to encourage small local businesses to avail of this grant.
With a proud history of economic development, Cork County Council today has the right structures to assist future generations of entrepreneurs.
