Annual Report

Chairman’s Report 2008

I am pleased to present the 2008 Annual Report on behalf of Louth County Enterprise Board and reflect on another productive year for the Board and the services it provides to small business in County Louth. Based on the employment survey which we conducted at the end of 2008, it would seem that the micro-enterprise sector which we support is proving to be quite resilient in the face of the harsh economic conditions in which its companies continue to trade. The Board has been tailoring its soft support offerings to respond to these challenging times and many companies have availed of the focussed mentoring and support initiatives that we now have in place.

The year 2008 was also a time of transition for the many programmes that the Board runs, which compliment its core financial and soft support measures. Both the Craftmark and Creative Enterprise Programmes drew to a close, as the funding from Cooperation Ireland and Interreg IIIA was exhausted. The Board has now mainstreamed these functions with the appointment of a Creative Enterprise Programme Manager for 2009.  The Board was also keen to maintain its support for Women in Enterprise, a programme which had also been funded by Cooperation Ireland. This project is now funded exclusively by the Board and in so doing, has forged an alliance with Network Louth, the network for business-women in the County.

The Board looks back with satisfaction on its role in the Tradelinks project, Enterprise Network East, TechCheck, Skillnets and is delighted with the response that the annual Enterprise Week in March gets from the people of the County. The Board is particularly pleased with the support it gets from teachers and student’s at all three levels of education in its efforts to develop an enterprise culture among our young people.

We are indebted to the professionalism of all of our staff and the various contractors who support us in our efforts and look forward to continuing this good work through 2009. 

Louth County Enterprise Board, Quayside Business Park, Mill Street, Dundalk, Co. Louth, Ireland. Telephone: +353 42 932 7099 Fax: +353 42 932 7101