Open doors to new markets was the theme for this year’s National Women’s Enterprise Day (NWED ), which was celebrated by local entrepreneurs at an event in the Lodge at Ashford Castle.
Organised by the Local Enterprise Offices, including Local Enterprise Office Mayo, 15 events were organised around the country with more than 1,200 entrepreneurs participating.
The NWED event held at the Lodge at Ashford Castle welcomed the opportunity to hear from female entrepreneurs from the west region, as well as further afield.
Caitlin O’Connor of Accelerating Performance, widely acknowledged as one of the leading experts in networking, lead generation, and marketing; Orla Cunningham of All in Print and Design, a Mayo based graphic design and printing service business, and Ursula Kelly of Cormac Tagging, a Department of Agriculture approved supplier of cattle, sheep, goat, and pig identification tags for the Irish farmer, all shared their experiences to date and how they have opened doors to new markets through the power of networking.
In 2016 the 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs ) across the country jointly supported 14,300 female entrepreneurs, and the National Women’s Enterprise Day initiative is as important as ever, according to John Magee, head of Mayo Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Mayo.
He said: “Studies show that women still have a higher fear of failure when it comes to starting a business and can lack confidence in their own skills and knowledge.
“To help address this, the Local Enterprise Offices teamed up with 60 successful female entrepreneurs all over the country to share and celebrate their stories, and to demonstrate how every woman can open doors to new markets and what supports are there to help.”
Information on the supports on offer through the Local Enterprise Offices is available through www.localenterprise.ie
