Female entrepreneurs and budding businesswomen from across Mayo are being encouraged to look to the future and register for this year’s National Women’s Enterprise Day after the line-up for the event was announced.
The Local Enterprise Office (LEO ) initiative, now in its 15th year, will be hosted by founder and broadcaster Aine Kerr. Traditionally, National Women’s Enterprise Day (NWED ) has taken place locally with LEO Mayo putting on events for female businesswomen across the county and those who may have a business idea they want to get off the ground. However, the event went online in 2020 due to restrictions and will take place online again this year.
The free event, titled Build The Future, takes place online on October 7 and will feature some of Ireland’s best known female entrepreneurs including the likes of Aimee Connolly of Sculpted by Aimee, Rachel Doyle of The Arboretum and Sharon Keegan of Peachy Lean, who was recently supported on Dragon’s Den UK.
One of the Leading Lights for the Event will be Elaine Kennedy of Hawthorn Handmade Skincare based in Partry, Claremorris. Hawthorn Handmade Skincare, founded by Elaine Kennedy, produces a range of handmade skincare products using 100% natural ingredients and was set up in 2018.
The day’s programme will cover a whole host of areas on how to build the future of a business, covering topics such as how to get started, internationalisation, finding new markets, trading effectively online, sustainability and innovation. This will be coupled with breakout rooms for networking and a host of one-to-one advice clinics for any business issues.
New figures released by the Local Enterprise Offices, which are funded by the Government of Ireland and supported by Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities, have shown that the number of women engaging in entrepreneurship and business supports continues to rise.
In 2020, over 47,000 women engaged in training and upskilling with their Local Enterprise Office. This was a huge jump on 2019 as 23,466 female entrepreneurs took part in training that year. In 2020, 50% more females engaged in training and upskilling with their Local Enterprise Office than their male counterparts (30,000 ).
Head of Enterprise at Mayo County Council, John Magee, said: "National Women’s Enterprise Day has always been a day of celebration of the very best in female entrepreneurship and highlighting the strength of that community. This year is no different, but we are very much looking forward. How can we help female entrepreneurs in Mayo sustain and develop their businesses and ideas going into the future?
"The last 18 months have created huge problems for businesses all across the county, but also great opportunities and businesses have to grasp those. NWED is going to look at all those areas where you can build your business for the future, what areas you need to look at and what supports are there to help you do that.
"Everyone who registers and attends on the day will not only spend it with a fantastic community of female entrepreneurs and experts from around the country, but they will learn how to build their business or business idea for the future."
Other participants on the day include Gerry Duffy who will be conducting an energising session, Jenny Melia and Sheelagh Daly from Enterprise Ireland on Internationalisation and New Markets, Entrepreneurs Academy’s Noel Davidson on creating connections, designer Aoife McNamara on starting a business and a host of others covering all sorts of topics from finance to trading online.
Those looking to attend National Women’s Enterprise Day can find more information and register for free at https://hopin.com/events/national-women-s-enterprise-day-2021-251b00f8-211d-4b04-9458-5c7e0d2a839b#speakers and join the conversation online using the hashtag #NWED.
