Towards 2016

Louth County Enterprise Board - Action Plan T16

Progress Report No. 3           July 2008

1. Promotion of Entrepreneurship
The SYPB programmes continued on schedule through Q1 and Q2 2008. The Board had approved the proposal to provide financial support (€250) to SYOB graduates who complete their business plan and actually set up in business within certain timeframes. This initiative is now up and running, albeit on a pilot basis. We will review the effectiveness of this incentive in the Autumn.

In fulfilment of its earlier commitment, the Board has designed a brief for an Ethnic Minority SYOB programme (based on the EMERGE project) and is currently out to tender on this project. The programme will be delivered over an 8 week period in Drogheda, beginning September 2008.

Based on the success of previous women-only SYOB programmes, the Board will offer this course in October/November, staging this offering in Dundalk as a counter-balance to the last Drogheda-based programme.

2. Local Enterprise Culture/Regional Development
The Board is represented on the County Development Board, Louth Leader Partnership (newly formed), Louth County Enterprise Fund, Ardee Business Park, Newry & Mourne Enterprise Agency, Oriel Developments Ltd., Omeath District Development Ltd. and Louth Craftmark Ltd. The Operating Agreement which was in place between the Board and Louth Leader is currently a subject for renewal. The expected emergence of a National Agreement at Departmental level will impact the final wording of this new local agreement.

The Board leads the following cross-border projects: Plato, Craftmark, Women in Enterprise and the Creative Enterprise Programme. It acts as a supporting agency for the Tradelinks, Border Vision and M1 Manufacturing Skillnet projects. The latter is a joint initiative with Fingal, Dublin City and Meath CEBs and is in recruitment mode. This is the first time that Louth CEB has engaged formally with other Boards south of County Louth, and this development is to be welcomed. The potential for future engagement between these Southern partners (and the SMEs they represent) and the Louth Board’s existing Northern partners will be explored over the months to come.

The Tradelinks II project has been approved for funding by the SEUPB (circa €4.0 m) over three years. Newry & Mourne Enterprise Agency and Louth County Enterprise Board are confident that they can, once again, win the tender to jointly manage this 12-county project for the period 2008-2012.

The CEO is an active member of both the Dundalk Economic Development Group and the Drogheda Economic Development Group.

3. SBF recommendations
The Board is on schedule to deliver 20 Tech Checks this year. The PR campaign, planned nationally and locally, for Aug/Sept will be critical in supporting the Board in meeting this target.

4. Enterprise Education
Twelve of the sixteen secondary schools in the County are involved in the Board’s Student Enterprise Awards programme. The Board’s involvement in primary schools is at an all-time high, based on the number of schools and children participating. The Louth county winner won the Technology Award at the National Students Award held in May.  The Board is actively supporting Dundalk Institute of Technology’s Entrepreneurial Internship programme and is contributing €20,000 to this cause in 2008.

5. Female Entrepreneurship
The Women in Enterprise Cross Border Programme has drawn to a close at the end of June and final claims are being managed by the managing agent appointed to the project. The Board has been running this programme with support from Newry & Mourne Enterprise Agency. It involved training and networking and was funded by Cooperation Ireland. The programme ran very successfully and the networking and training events were generally oversubscribed. The research element within the project is complete and the recommendations being analysed to guide future interventions by the Enterprise Board/Enterprise Agency partnership into the future.

6. Cooperation and Flexibility
The Board operates from modern, professional offices and all 12 employees (permanent and contract) are fully ICT networked. A Filmaker Pro system was installed in early 2007 and manages all client data information. This is the Board’s CRM system and it compensates for the shortcomings in the central PMS system. All staff members continue to use the Filemaker system, to the ultimate benefit of the clients that we serve.

7. Industrial Relations
There has been no industrial action within the Board. All staff members attend a weekly staff meeting and there are two off-site meetings a year to review progress to action plans and agree adjustments, as appropriate. A recent one day off-site meeting for all staff focussed on Customer Service - what it means and how we can improve on our current performance.

All Board and staff members have been actively involved in the implementation of the Board’s Action Plan, which resulted from the Strategic Planning process in 2007.

8. Cross Functional initiatives
Ronan Dennedy and Joe English are members of the IT Committee. Peggy McGlynn is a member of the Student Enterprise Committee. Sarah Daly is a Craft Council of Ireland Board member.

9. New Technology
The Board’s website was reviewed in July with the service provider and updates planned to be put into effect. Updates and ezines are issued to a client database of 1560 customers on a bi-monthly basis. A VPN system is now installed and working effectively, accommodating home-working for all employees.

10. PMDS - Performance Targets
All non-permanent staff are on formal short-term contracts. Staff workplans have been revised in response to the Action Plan 2008-2009.

11. PMDS - Training and development
Staff have participated in the PMS training organised in June by the Shannon based CCU. Another has availed of the administration training organised by the same unit. A member of staff is completing a Business Counselling programme, which is directly applicable to her job.

12. Compliance with Department
All staff have been hired in accordance with Departmental Circulars and guidelines. Staff contracts are not formally in place pending resolution on contract templates and pension offering.

13. Disability
The office and the website support disabled access.

14. Service Delivery
The Board organised a high profile Enterprise Awards competition as part of its Enterprise Week 2008, which was held in the first week of March 2008. A total of 900 people engaged with the various events that were held during Enterprise Week and the Board’s profile was enhanced considerably during the period, making it more clear to the business community and the general public what the Board does and how it can be contacted for support.

15. Financial Control
The Board is in conformance with the Department and the CCU’s reporting requirements and the various procedures which relate to financial control. The Board is also in conformance with the financial control requirements of its other funders which include FAS, Cooperation Ireland and Interreg IIIA.

16. Corporate Governance
The Board is in conformance with Corporate Governance requirements including the Ethics and FOI Acts. It complies with the Code of Best Practice as set out in the Procedures Manual.

Ronan Dennedy
11 July 2008

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