8th March 2022 |
Reports, Schemes
The North-West Regional Enterprise Plan to 2024 was launched by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in Sligo and Leitrim on 8 March 2022.
The new plan includes projects and initiatives across the three North-West counties (Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal). Stakeholder consultation sessions attracted over 60 attendees from across industry, public sector and higher education sectors from within the region. The sessions highlighted the high level of collaboration and ambition that exists within the region, with a strong sense of optimism prevalent despite some regional challenges. Six key strategic objectives were agreed, with discrete actions developed for each.
The six strategic objectives
1 | Encouraging entrepreneurship and scaling of SMEs | This objective looks to address our low start-up rates and encouraging our indigenous businesses to scale. Additionally looking at our regional strengths and how to encourage those, for example, cluster development, strategic growth. |
2 | Regional strengths – wind energy and blue economy | This objective aims to look at how regional collaboration and public authorities can support the growth of the onshore/offshore wind industry. The blue economy was a key objective in the last plan, continued through to this plan and looks to support the regional blue economy and the marine cluster in Killybegs. |
3 | Promotion of the region | Feedback during the consultation sessions has led to this objective around promoting the regions enterprise and economic strengths including capitalising on the recent remote working trends. |
4 | Enterprise transition to low carbon | This objective looks to encourage our regions enterprises to transition to low carbon operations and grow the circular economy in the region. |
5 | Cross border relationships in the enterprise ecosystem | This objective recognizes our unique position as a cross border region and looks to strengthen these cross-border relationships in order to further enterprise growth in the North-West. |
6 | Skills | Throughout the consultation sessions, the topic of skills came up continuously including talent retention and attracting talent, future of skills. This objective looks to use the network available to the steering committee to assist in addressing the Northwest enterprise’s skills concerns in the region. |
Seamus Hughes of Zeus Industrial Products chairs the new plan for the North-West, with support from programme manager Anne McTernan.
Topics:
Regional Enterprise Plans