6th March 2020
County Enterprise Awards one of many highlights during ‘Local Enterprise Week’
A personalised gift business from Ennis has won the County Enterprise Award for 2020 and has been named as Clare’s Best Enterprise.
The top prize of €3,500 went to WowWee.ie who will now represent Local Enterprise Office Clare at the National Enterprise Awards, on May 28th at the Mansion House, Dublin. A PR Mentoring package was also part of the prize.
WowWee.ie: The creative team of 9, design, embroider, paint, print, engrave and pack each order with great attention to detail. The business is currently shipping to over 26 countries.
Speaking after the Awards as part of Local Enterprise Week, Padraic McElwee, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Clare said:
WowWee.ie has already become a success story and the judges were particularly impressed by the grasp Aine had of her business model, her focus on LEAN principles and where the opportunities lie for the future growth of the business. Clare are proud to be represented by Aine Gleeson from WowWee.ie
Speaking at the Awards, Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen TD, said
I would like to congratulate Aine on winning this year’s Clare County Enterprise Award. While there can be only one outright winner, I am extremely heartened by the quality of all the entries and of the strong level of enterprise that clearly exists in the county. I am confident that many of the businesses here will develop and grow and will expand into global markets. As we have seen from previous winners like Get the Shifts, Aaron PCB, Callan Technology and ABC Nutrition, this competition can be a springboard to great success and I wish WowWee and all the finalists all the best in their enterprise future. They can be assured that their Local Enterprise Office here in Clare will always be there to support their ambition “
Other winners at the awards ceremony, held at the The Old Ground Hotel in Ennis on Friday night (6th March) included McKernan Woollen Mills Ltd winning Best Export Award; Ergtech Ltd winning Best Innovation Award and Torpey Hurleys winning Future Focus Award.
The National competition judging is taking place in April and WowWee.ie will be competing against 30 other finalists from every local authority area for a share of the €40,000 prize fund. The Mansion House in Dublin is the venue for the awards ceremony in May and categories this year include ‘Best Export Award,’ ‘Best Innovation Award and ‘Future Focus,’ in addition to eight runner-up awards.
Other local businesses that were also shortlisted this year were AforeAfter, Quin Art, Muscleballers, Siar Landscape Photography, Meeres Pork Products, AMS Ltd and Kilkee Forge.
Among the special guests at the ceremony were Minster Breen and Mayor of Clare, Clare Colleran Molloy. Members of the judging panel included Harriet Cotter of Enterprise Ireland, Damian Barrow of Curtin O’Friel & Co Accountants and Theresa Roseingrave of BrandAmp Ltd.
The awards were just one of the many highlights of Local Enterprise Week, which came to an end on March 6th. All over the country, the 31 Local Enterprise Offices have jointly ran over 300 events aimed at start-ups, aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses in their area, to mark the week.
Other high-profile events during Local Enterprise Week included Tools for Bettering your Business, Business Advice Clinics, Food Information Event, PR Workshop and the Student Enterprise Programme Awards.
ENDS
For all information and media requests around the County Enterprise Awards or Local Enterprise Week, please contact Local Enterprise Office Clare:
Tel 065 6821616
Email localenterprise@leo.clarecoco.ie
National Enterprise Awards 2020
Award Categories and Prize Fund
The 2020 National Enterprise Awards take place on May 28th in the Mansion House in Dublin and are organised by the Local Enterprise Offices
- Overall Winner, National Enterprise Awards 2020 (Cash Prize for business: €10,000)
- Best Export Award (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
- Best Innovation Award (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
- Future Focus (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
- Eight Runner-Up Winners (Cash Prize for business: €2,000 each
Runner Up Regions
- Dublin City, Fingal, Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown and South Dublin
- Kildare, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath
- Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny
- Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan
- Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Longford
- Galway, Mayo and Roscommon
- Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary
- Cork City, South Cork, Cork North and West and Waterford
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