Eight small companies from Donegal, Westmeath, Mayo, Wexford, Cork, Limerick, Cavan and Dublin were unveiled as finalists in the capital recently for the fifteenth annual National Enterprise Awards later this month.
Organised by the County and City Enterprise Boards, the ceremony for the Enterprise Awards is being staged in Dublin Castle on Thursday 24th November to recognise the outstanding achievements of micro-enterprises throughout Ireland. There are thirty-five County and City Enterprise Boards around the Country, which in 2010 alone, provided a variety of enterprise supports for nearly 25,000* small business owners.
Representing the ever-growing technology sector, four of the nominated businesses provide IT-focussed products and services including mobile Wifi, mass text messaging, database management and software development. The four other finalists operate in the waste, food and drink and agricultural machinery sectors.
A spokesperson for the County and City Enterprise Boards confirmed that this year’s finalists are: Sendmode.com from Donegal (John McNamara), Soltec Ireland Ltd from Westmeath (Michael Corcoran) and Glanmara Ltd, trading as Drombeg Premium Irish Spirit from West Cork (John O’Connell).
Also nominated this year are Running Gear Ltd. of Mayo, trading as Agrispread (David Murphy), FleetConnect from Fingal in Dublin (Patrick Cotter) and Action Point Innovation from Limerick County (David Jeffreys). The final two nominees for 2011 are Aine’s Handmade Chocolates from Cavan (Ann Rudden) and Softouch Technologies Ltd., based in Wexford (David O’Donnell).
“This year’s finalists are great examples of the ingenuity and innovation that exists in Irish businesses today”, said Michael P. Kelly, speaking on behalf of the County and City Enterprise Boards. “Growth in sales, exports and workforces are signs of healthy businesses and these micro enterprises offer inspiration to other companies. Support and assistance at a local level is acknowledged as playing a vital role in reaching these levels of success and we continue to encourage companies to seek out the necessary supports from their local Enterprise Board, just as these finalists have done.”
Impressively, last year’s overall winners, ABC Nutrition from Clare, went on to capture the ‘Exporter of the Year’ Award on Friday, November 10th. The company develops and manufactures nutritional powders, vitamin capsules and spray vitamins and was supported by the Clare County Enterprise Board.
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