Client companies of Cork County Council's Local Enterprise Office have availed of over €2m worth of business grant aids and created 826 jobs since the beginning of 2020.
Figures released by CCC's LEO ahead of Local Enterprise Week next week show that 900 businesses in the region used the funds to improve their e-commerce capabilities in the past two years, during which non-essential retail businesses were shuttered for long periods in line with public health restrictions.
CCC's LEOs in north, south and west Cork hosted more than 720 business training courses and events throughout the pandemic, reaching over 7,500 business owners in the region, with over 620 new entrepreneurs in the county participating in 40 start your own business programmes.
More than 2,200 business owners also availed of free business advice clinics and mentoring supports, which were delivered by trainers online direct to business owners.
Local Enterprise Week will run across the country's 31 LEOs from 7-11 March. The events schedule spans conferences, workshops, seminars, networking, and business advice clinics, aimed at anyone thinking of starting a business, new start-ups and growing SMEs.
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Among the events, most of which are free of charge, will be seminars covering a range of topics including steps to self-employment, going green and sustainability in business, how to set up your dream business, first steps to exporting and start your own podcast series as well as individual business mentoring and advice clinics.
Cllr Gillian Coughlan, mayor of Cork City, said: "I don’t need to state how difficult the past two years has been for businesses through the county and all of Ireland but Cork County Council’s Local Enterprise Offices have never stopped delivering what was needed in that time.
"This is something I am confident will stand to business owners and help them to build stronger businesses into the future. These people create employment across Cork County which also makes it our duty to do our best to keep our business local and continue to support them whenever we can, as they really are the lifeblood of our county.”
Tim Lucey, chief executive of Cork County Council, added: "Although the past two years have been extremely challenging, we are proud that the council’s LEOs continued to support business owners by adapting to the times and encouraging them to sustain and grow their businesses.
"We have built strong bonds with the business owners we work with and are led by them when it comes to hosting these events as they are topics which they have requested to be covered."
Seán O’Sullivan, head of enterprise at LEO South Cork and Kevin Curran, head of enterprise at Cork North and West, both highlighted how the county's local enterprise offices have aided hundreds of local businesses over the past two years.
"We look forward to meeting business owners in person again very soon and this has already begun. The landscape of our economy has changed immeasurably since March 2020 but Cork businesses have the determination to adapt and succeed.
"Local Enterprise Week is all about supporting them. The fact that we have a waiting list for our Start your Own Business programmes is proof of the spirit of Cork entrepreneurs.”
Photo: Seán O'Sullivan (left), head of enterprise at LEO South Cork; Sharon Corcoran, director of economic development and tourism at Cork County Council; Kevin Curran, head of enterprise at LEO Cork North and West; Mark Szepietowski, Health and Safety Publications; and Mairead O'Donnell, Polar Ice Tech. (Pic: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision)
