Welcome to this Edition of our Update from the Carlow County Council -
Local Enterprise Office.
This edition features:
- Course: Creating a digital marketing strategy for your business
- Course: Understand Self-Assessment Tax for SME’s
- Enterprise Village Competition
- National Women’s Enterprise Day
- Startup Gathering 2015
- South East Action Plan for Jobs
- Carlow Retail Incentive Scheme
- €200,000 granted for development of Carlow Brewing company
- Grant Applications Closing Date – 25th September 2015
The above is just a sample and a full schedule is available on www.localenterprise.ie/Carlow
Creating a digital marketing strategy for your business
Location: Enterprise House, O’Brien Road, Carlow
Duration: 2 evenings (1 evening per week over two weeks)
Time: 6.30p.m. – 9.30p.m.
Date(s): 29th Sept & 6th October, 2015
Trainer: Carey-Ann Lordan, Red PR
Fee: €75.00 (Free of Charge to Web Voucher Recipients)
Number of Places: 15
This course will give you an understanding of all things digital, be able to select the digital tools that best suit your business whilst offering you the best possible return on all activities and measurable results. It will also incorporate any traditional activities and techniques your business used into your strategy, so that your overall marketing plan is well rounded and strategic.
Course Content:
- Understand the difference between traditional and digital marketing
- Learn about the most common digital marketing mistakes and how to avoid them
- To understand the key principles of a digital marketing strategy
- Digital planning and the importance of creating and following the schedule
- Understanding the Communications mix
- Writing differently for your chosen communications medium
- Synchronising your digital and traditional marketing activities
- To apply your learning to a case study that demonstrates efficient synergy
- Know how to analyse & evaluate campaigns and the importance of doing so
- Creation of a digital marketing strategy that best suits your specific requirements
At the end of the course participants you will;
- have greater understanding of digital marketing platforms and techniques
- understand how traditional and digital activities can work in tandem
- appreciate the appropriate style of writing & engagement techniques for the medium
- devise a well-rounded timeline to accompany their bespoke marketing plan
- learn how to analyse and evaluate campaigns and the importance of doing so
- have created a vibrant digital marketing strategy that is easy to implement and maintain for your business going forward with their new found digital toolkit
- have a good balance of traditional and digital activities included in their overall marketing plan that offers best return on investment
To book a place on this course please email enterprise@carlowcoco.ie or phone 059 9129783
Understand Self-Assessment Tax for SME’s
Location: Enterprise House, O’Brien Road, Carlow
Duration: 1 evening
Time: 6.30 p.m. – 9.30 p.m.
Date(s): 30th September, 2015
Trainer: Bernie Dillon - Talentpool
Fee: €25.00
Number of Places: 15
As the owner of a start up business, it is essential to get tax advice to ensure you are compliant. Similarly, understanding tax for small business is vital even if your business is already up and running. Small business tax mistakes can be costly.This evening programme will give the participant a thorough knowledge of the obligations and duties to the Revenue when self-assessed.
Content Includes:
- The difference between self-employed and employee with regard to personal taxation
- Tax Registration
- What Self-assessment is about – the Carrot and the stick
- What the annual tax return is like – how to complete it
- How to keep your records simply and in accordance with revenue regulations
- Key Dates, preliminary tax, rates and USC &PRSI for Self employed
- ROS
- Online tax calculators
- How to save tax when self employed
At the end of the programme participants should understand the self assessment Tax System.
To book a place on this course please email enterprise@carlowcoco.ie or phone 059 9129783
Enterprise Village Competition – Win €3,500 worth of prizes
85 small businesses, including local companies, will be welcoming thousands of visitors to the new ‘Enterprise Village’ at the National Ploughing Championships on September 22nd – 24th.
To celebrate the launch of the Enterprise Village, the Local Enterprise Office is running an online competition to win €3,500 worth of Enterprise Village Products.
All you have to do is tweet a selfie with the LEO Tractor or any tractor with the hashtag #TractorLEO on Twitter. It can be a selfie with a real tractor, a toy tractor or even one on the TV! The more creative the picture, the better.
Prizes include: Hampers of baked goods, Jams, Chutneys, Cases of Craft Beer and Cordial, Beauty and Skin Care Products, Restaurant Vouchers, Hurls, Clocks, Sewing Kits and much more.
You can pick up a LEO Tractor from your Local Enterprise Office in the upcoming week. Competition ends midnight September 29th 2015.
Don't forget to follow the LEO Tractor on Twitter for all the latest updates on the competition, news from the Enterprise Village and the National Ploughing Championships: https://twitter.com/Tractorleo
Visit the Enterprise Village at the 84th National Ploughing Championships 2015 at Ratheniska, Co Laois from September 22nd – 24th 2015, Block 3, Row 25, and Stand Number 430.
National Women’s Enterprise Day 2015 – Creating Connections, Building Business
National Women's Enterprise Day returns to the Galway Bay Hotel on 21st-22nd October 2015. This event, hosted by the Local Enterprise Offices, is co-financed by the European Social Fund with support from the Department of Justice and Equality, through the Equality for Women initiative.
The aim of National Women’s Enterprise Day is to encourage even more women to set up their own businesses and to increase national recognition of the essential role played by Ireland’s female entrepreneurs. The event consists of a variety of developmental support actions, including inspiring speakers, information provision, exhibition of state supports for enterprise, facilitated business networking and one to one business mentoring.
Advice, mentoring and networking are key elements of National Women's Enterprise Day with a panel of experienced mentors available. Successful businesswomen share their experiences with start-up companies and fledgling businesses.
Subject to an application receipted prior to 9th October 2015 ,Carlow Local Enterprise Office can provide a €100 grant towards the attendance for National Women’s Enterprise Day. 10 Grants are available and are allocated on a first come, first served basis.
For further information regarding National Women’s Enterprise Day email: enterprise@carlowcoco.ie or phone 059 9129783
Startup Gathering 2015
The Startup Gathering 2015 programme of events was launched by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, T.D together with Minister of State for Business and Employment, Ged Nash TD in NDRC, Digital Exchange, Dublin on September 8th. Over 300 Startup Gatherings will take place in five cities across Ireland, making the 5 to 10 of October one of the biggest national startup weeks in the world. The aim of the Startup Gathering 2015 is to promote entrepreneurship and help develop world class regional startup hubs as well as highlighting Ireland’s startup sector to global entrepreneurs, investors and R&D teams.
Led by Startup Ireland and supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the 300 Startup Gathering 2015 events will take place across five days in Dublin, Waterford, and Cork, Limerick and Galway, with additional Startup Gathering programmes also taking place in Ireland North East and North West. Participants will have an opportunity to showcase their startups, discover the supports and services available to them, take part in networking opportunities and collaborate with other startups and established corporates.
Among the events taking place during Startup Gathering Week: from Monday 5th to Friday 9th of October, each of the five cities will host an Open Forum conference event, inviting the startup ecosystem to come together to discuss the big ideas that will turn their location into a startup hub. These sessions will be facilitated by Oscar Ramirez of Startup Commons Global which specialises in online solution for governments to manage, measure and monitor startup ecosystems.
The full programme of events, including events run by the Local Enterprise Office Carlow is available for download on the Startup Gathering 2015 app online at www.startupgathering.ie
Carlow County Council Launches €500,000 Retail Support Scheme for New & Existing Retail.
On 11th September 2015, Minister Anne Phelan launched the Carlow County Council Retail Incentive Schemes which is designed to give a balanced support to start up, existing and developing Retail in County Carlow. The supports rolled out in partnership with Micro Finance Ireland & Department of Social Protection provide development supports, employment supports and loan funding for start up and developing enterprises. The scheme will be further enhanced in December 2015 with the addition of a Start Up Grant for particular areas of County Carlow.
Details of the scheme were announced by Kieran Comerford, Head of Enterprise, Carlow County Council, who said that the schemes are designed to provide a suite of supports based on the requirements of start up and developing business. Comerford said “We’ve listened to small business owners and people who have viable business ideas and one of the messages we hear consistently from them is that Retail needs a package of supports that takes into account the various aspects of their business”. Comerford concluded by saying that “the schemes which are now open for applications bring together the one stop shop concept in a real way by working in partnership with Micro Finance Ireland & Department of Social Protection to provide solutions of new, existing and growing companies".
Access to Finance has been identified as a critical issue for Start Up Retail and the scheme is rolled out in partnership with Micro Finance Ireland.
For full details on the Retail Incentive Scheme visit our website: Carlow – Retail Incentive Scheme
Government launches South East Action Plan for Jobs, part of €250million regional jobs strategy
The Government launched the South East Action Plan for Jobs on 7th September, aimed at delivering 10-15% employment growth in the region over the coming years.
The Plan is the third of 8 regional jobs plans to be published over the coming months, as part of a new €250million regional jobs strategy led by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD.
The project to develop jobs plans for each of the 8 regions was in part born out of the success of the previous pioneering South East Plan process, established by Minister Bruton after the sudden job losses in Talk Talk in Waterford in 2011 and in response to the historic unemployment challenges in the South East region. Since 2012 the South East has had the fastest rate of jobs growth of any region in the country, with 25,300 extra jobs created in the region in 3 years, representing a 13.9% increase.
The new South East Plan builds on and expands this process, covering counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford. Key sectors targeted as part of the plan include agri-food, tourism, life sciences, manufacturing, retail and financial services/business services.
The levels of employment growth actually achieved within that range will depend on factors including the level of support and collaboration within the local community for the Plan, and the level of collaboration between organisations in the region and the main Government bodies involved in the plan. Minister Bruton believes that based on all the evidence and the strong buy-in for the process up to this point it is realistic to target 25,000 additional jobs in the region by 2020.
The full details on the South East Action Plan for Jobs is available on our website: News – South East Action Plan for Jobs
€200,000 granted for development of Carlow Brewing company as part of Ireland’s Ancient East.
The Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD, along with Minister of State for Tourism, Michael Ring TD, announced €1.2m in funding for capital projects in Ireland’s Ancient East along with an additional €600k for the first stage of branded signage for all counties within the region.
The €1.2m Capital funding is the first phase of investment through Fáilte Ireland’s ‘New ideas in Ancient Spaces’ Capital Grants Scheme and is for an initial 12 projects within the Ireland’s Ancient East initiative. It is expected that projects in every county within Ireland’s Ancient East will be supported through the scheme over the coming months.
This first phase of funding under the ‘New ideas in Ancient Spaces’ Capital Grants Scheme follows a Fáilte Ireland call for applications from interested parties across the region. Fáilte Ireland is currently assessing a number of further applications from that call and will be announcing another round of funding before the end of the year.
Launched last April, Ireland’s Ancient East is Fáilte Ireland’s latest tourism initiative and seeks to build on the wealth of historical and cultural assets in the east and south of Ireland. The new initiative seeks to give visitors a personal experience of 5000 years of Irish history through a journey of discovery stretching from Carlingford to Cork and is intended to match and complement the Wild Atlantic Way in terms of scale and ambition.
The capital funding announced in the first phase of the ‘New ideas in Ancient Spaces’ Capital Grants Scheme is being awarded to 12 projects including Dunleckney Maltings, in Bagenalstown County Carlow. The brewery will see the development of a new visitor attraction, by providing a unique opportunity to learn about the brewing and distilling heritage in a building that has been linked to the Irish brewing sector for over 200 years. The brewery will offer guided tours and along with multi-lingual storyboards and leaflets, share the unique story of Carlow Brewing, the brewing heritage of the area, provide opportunities to meet the producers, to taste the beers and participate in demonstrations.
For more information on Ireland's Ancient East visit the Failte Ireland Website.
Web Vouchers - €2,500 grants available for Web Trade Development.
Small businesses who have availed of the Local Enterprise Office’s Trading Online Voucher scheme, which offers up to €2,500 in funding for the development of online trading presence, experience an 85 per cent boost in customer inquiries and a 21 per cent average increase in sales.
Over €50,000 has already been awarded to local Carlow companies who are developing their online trade. All companies with less than 10 employees could avail of a Web Voucher for up to €2,500 Euros.
Every Friday is closing date until further notice.
For further information e-mail enterprise@carlowcoco.ie
Grant Applications – Closing Date 25th September 2015
The next closing date for grant applications is 25th September 2015. For further information, or to book an appointment to discuss grants available, e-mail enterprise@carlowcoco.ie or call 059 9129783.
Enterprise House – Quality Accommodation for Start Up and Existing Enterprises
Are you developing your business in 2015 and looking for a new location? As a result of the expansion of a number of clients, Enterprise House is currently accepting applications for various units available, Enterprise House is a unique location in County Carlow for your business to grow and develop. Competitive Rental & Service Rates available.
For further information e-mail kcomerford@carlowcoco.ie or call 059 9129783.
