If you are concerned with the road, rail and air infrastructure into and out of Mayo, then an upcoming Western Development Commission (WDC ) seminar, organised by Castlebar Chamber, will be of interest to you.
Issues such as telecommunications and specifically broadband, renewable energy, the creative/knowledge economy, the WDC's €34 million investment fund, the LookWest campaign and the National Spatial Strategy are other topics up for discussion on the night.
This is the first step being taken by Castlebar Chamber in an effort to push the enterprise development agenda for the town.
Enterprise development is one of the key pillars highlighted in the Chamber's 2020 Vision policy document which was adopted by the Chamber following months of consultation with the business community.
The seminar, which takes place on June 9 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at GMIT, Castlebar, is open to Chamber members and the wider business community and is being run in conjunction with the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.
Chairperson of the Chamber's Enterprise committee Tom Canavan said: “In Castlebar and the wider Mayo area we need to highlight our strengths and the great variety of business opportunities available. Together with the WDC and GMIT we are delighted to host this very important event.”
This event will be followed with an extensive business survey which will verify the priorities of Chamber members in an effort to kick into action a series of initiatives to benefit the local business community. A new enterprise development team has been set up by Castlebar Chamber to progress these projects.
The members are Adrian Cunningham (Brian Cunningham Transport ), Michael Gill (GMIT ), Maria Staunton (Innovation in Business Centre ), Sean McGuire (Aniar Solutions ), John Moran (MayoPlus ) and Tom Canavan (Carravone Ltd ). Other members will join to provide expert input on select projects.
The projects include both infrastructure and business support services.
They include plans to bring Castlebar up to the standard of other main towns in terms of broadband and Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN ), to develop plans for a knowledge park which can accommodate and support new businesses in the creative and software sectors and be both a set-up up from the Innovation Centre and a natural home for new start ups, and to build a website which can be a single place where new start up and existing businesses can find information on the full range of business supports available in Castlebar. This may also run forums where business people can share ideas and discuss local business problems.
The enterprise development team are very keen to hear from anybody with fresh ideas and a willingness to contribute to the work of the group. Please contact any of the members above or Castlebar Chamber on 094 902 4845.
