Local Enterprise Board networking lunches continue

Louise Grubb of Q1 Scientific

Following the success of WLRfm's Des Whelan 'Top Ten Tips on Branding’, Waterford Local Enterprise Office is looking forward to welcoming Louise Grubb to give her ‘Top Ten Tips on Business Expansion’ on Thursday, July 3^rd.

These events called ‘Top Ten lunches’ are a series of networking lunches on the theme of ‘My top ten business tips’ delivered by successful local business people and occurring once per month. Each lunch will outline the speakers’ views on a specific topic such as branding, export, retail and selling on line. 

These lunches take place in the Bistro in the Tower Hotel, Waterford from 12.30pm to 2pm. This series is also an appropriate way to introduce the new Local Enterprise Office in Waterford to local business people.

There is a considerable pool of business talent and experience in Waterford and the L.E.O. hopes to harness this expertise to inspire Waterford’s new and existing business people. 

Louise Grubb is the CEO and Founder of Q1 Scientific which was launched in 2013 to provide a world-class Environmentally Controlled storage facility servicing the Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences industries. Prior to Q1 Scientific, Louise was the Founder and Managing Director of Nutri Science Ltd, which develops nutraceuticals for the veterinary healthcare market. Nutri Science was a former winner of the Irish Exporters Award with exports throughout Europe. Louise holds honours BSc in Nutrition, a Master's Degree in Business Studies (International Marketing) and is a graduate of the Irish Marketing Institute.

Ciarán Cullen of the Local Enterprise Office in Waterford is particularly looking forward to hear Louise, “We worked with Louise a number of years ago when Nutri-science was growing and years later we also helped with the launch of Q1 Scientific. Louise is an excellent speaker and when it comes to start up businesses is always very generous with her time.”

The lunches are taking a break in August but return with Ronan Mulligan’s ’Top Ten Tips on technology in retail’ on September 18^th. 

Future speakers also include John Noonan of Flahavan’s and Grainne Walsh of Metalman Brewing.

The cost of these events is just €8.50. Booking is essential. For more information or to register your interest please contact your Local Enterprise Office in Waterford on 051-849905 or email info@leo.waterfordcouncil.ie .  

Keeping seniors safe in the sun!

The recent good weather has us flocking to the beaches, seeking out the shade and ensuring we are well protected with effective sun creams.

Whilst we all need to exercise caution during the warm spell, older people are at increased risk of heat related illness, especially if they live alone, have medical conditions or take certain medicines. 

In many cases being frail, not able to move as easily or having dementia can affect an elderly person’s ability to take adequate care of themselves in hot weather. 

Home Instead Senior Care Waterford has issued guidelines and advice to enable people to put together a plan for how to assist an older person to cope during extreme heat. 

• Arrange to check on an older person twice a day if you can during extreme heat, especially if he/she lives alone. If possible, do not rely on just talking on the phone, as you need to be able to make sure they are drinking enough water and assess any changes to their physical condition,

• Make sure the older person has a phone which will work during a power failure. If they have a safety alarm pendant, make sure this will work if the power was off.

• If an older person seems to be suffering from heat stress, they need to be cooled down immediately. Use cool baths, showers, or place cool, wet towels on their neck and underarms.

• Call a doctor or an ambulance if an older person’s condition does not improve within an hour after taking steps to cool them down, or if they have any heat related symptoms that are causing concern.

• People caring for others also need to look after themselves in extreme heat, or they put at risk their own health as well as their ability to care for others. 

Keeping Cool:

Try to encourage the older person to take simple steps to keep cool such as: rinsing a cloth in cool water and using it to wipe their arms and neck; sleeping with just a sheet over them; putting their feet in a bowl of cool water; making ice cubes from water or cordial and sucking them to keep cool; and/or putting a bowl of ice cubes in front of a fan to create a cool breeze.

Clothing and personal aids

Encourage them to wear light coloured, loose fitting clothing. Sunscreen should always be worn by an older person, even if they only go outside for a short time, as their skin is much thinner and can burn easily. A wide-brimmed hat that shades the face and covers the head is advisable if going outdoors in the heat.

Sunglasses should always be worn outside but make sure they are taken off before going inside to prevent an accident. Pausing inside for a few minutes is a good idea to help eyes adjust from the bright sunlight.

Check that wheelchairs, walkers and other metal equipment that may be used by an older person do not become hot to touch, as this can cause a burn.

Eating and drinking

Older people may not always be able to tell when they are thirsty so encourage them to drink water regularly, unless their doctor has advised them to limit the amount of fluid they drink.  It is a good idea for an older person to have a water bottle with them at all times in the heat to avoid becoming dehydrated.

Encourage them to eat smaller meals more often during hot weather. Using stoves or ovens less often also keeps the temperature cooler in their home and reduces the risk of accidentally leaving them on.

Medicines

If they take prescribed medicines, they must continue to take these during periods of extreme heat.  Some medicines can make an older person more prone to sunburn and heat stress, so extra care should be taken to watch for signs that they are becoming affected by the heat. If you need more advice on particular medicines, speak to a pharmacist or a G.P.

 

If you are concerned about a senior family member or friend, call Home Instead Senior Care Waterford on 051 333966 or visit www.homeinstead.ie.

Local Enterprise Office to host event for trading on line voucher scheme

Pictured at the launch of the Digital Voucher Scheme, Margaret Durand (Dungarvan Enterprise Centre Manager), Tom Banville (Head of Wexford LEO), Pat Rabbitte TD (Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources) and Ciaran Cullen (Waterford LEO)

The Trading Online Voucher scheme is designed to help small companies to access the opportunities open to them through trading online.  This will help companies in Waterford City and County to access new markets so that they can grow and create more jobs.

Ciaran Cullen of the Local Enterprise Office in Waterford City emphasises the importance of the vouchers, “This scheme has evolved from and improves on any of the previous website funding available. It matches the current requirements for modern websites including the need for promotion via adwords.”

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEO) will be the key delivery partner working with the Department of Communications in implementing this scheme.  Waterford LEO will play a critical role in ensuring the success of this scheme, which is designed to develop and grow existing and new business in their area of responsibility. 

Minister Rabbitte commented on the voucher scheme: “Far too much on-line business goes to suppliers from abroad.  We want to ensure the companies who access government support to go on-line will get the most from it.  We are working with the Local Enterprise Office to up-skill their personnel.  We are helping them understand how digital impacts on logistics, marketing, search engine optimisation, payments and other aspects of small business.  This will help to ensure mentors and staff in each LEO will be well geared up to guide applicant companies all over Ireland to use the investment wisely, grow their businesses, start exporting and ultimately increase employment”

As part of the National Digital Strategy, on Thursday the 26th of June the Local Enterprise Office is hosting a free Digital Voucher Information morning in Dungarvan Enterprise Centre, from 8am to 1pm.  An expression of Interest form is available from your Local Enterprise Office in Waterford and Dungarvan. Attendance at this information morning is mandatory for your digital voucher application.

The Information morning will include items such as targeting customers on line, search engine optimisation and social media marketing.

The Digital voucher process is competitive and there are € 62,500 worth of vouchers available in Waterford for this Pilot phase. Applications will be processed during June and July.  An evaluation committee will meet in late July to decide on successful applicants.  Successful applicants will be informed in writing in late July and should not begin before receiving this letter as applying is not a guarantee of success.

There are only 50 places available for this event so even though the event is free, booking using the expression of interest form is essential.

For more information or to collect your expression of interest form please contact your Local Enterprise Office at 32 the Mall in Waterford City or the Civic Offices in Dungarvan. Alternatively you can email info@leo.waterfordcouncil.ie .  

Are you Waterford’s Best Young Entrepreneur?

L-R; Vincent Reynolds, Chairman of Local Enterprise Office, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Minister Richard Bruton for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation,  & Minister John Perry for Small Business

New competition launched to find Waterford’s Best Young Entrepreneur (Under 30) with investment of up to €25,000 available for winner.

Winners in Waterford will proceed to regional and national finals with aim of finding Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur

The Taoiseach and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation launched a new competition to find Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur, with a total fund of €2million available to invest in winning businesses at entrepreneurs in every county in the country.

In Waterford the competition to find Waterford’s Best Young Entrepreneur will be run by the new Local Enterprise Office. Winners will be named in three categories – best new idea, best start-up, best new venture for established business – as well as an overall winner who will be Waterford’s Best Young Entrepreneur.

The Waterford Local Enterprise Office will have a total fund of €50,000 to invest in the three winning businesses, according to criteria including the prospects and investment needs of each business. The overall winner of Waterford’s Best Young Entrepreneur can receive an investment of up to €25,000.

Mentoring, marketing and other supports will also be available to participating businesses at various stages of the competition. 

Lar Power, Director of Economic Development, Waterford City and County Council believes this initiative is particularly important to Waterford, “Following the success of Waterford in the National Student Enterprise Awards this year I am looking forward to seeing what ‘under 30’ sector entrepreneurs in the City and County enter this competition. Waterford’s small business enterprises in particular require as much assistance as they can get and the new Local Enterprise Office in Waterford is fully prepared to help these young and innovative future entrepreneurs make their ideas turn into a commercial reality.”

Ciaran Cullen of the Local Enterprise Office complimented the scale of the competition, “This size of investment for these young start-up businesses is a significant statement of intent. The investment is more than just monetary, the boot camps, mentoring and national exposure will give the best of these entries the boost they require at this stage of their development.”

The competition is open to individuals aged 30 and under and will be judged under three distinct categories:

• ·         best new idea
• ·         best start-up business
• ·         best established business with new add-on

The first stage will be a county-based competition (run by the 31 LEOs) leading to the naming of the Best Young Entrepreneur in each county. This stage will include boot camps and mentoring programmes. This will be followed by regional finals and ultimately national finals with one business-person being crowned Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur before the end of the year.

There have been expressions of interest from television production companies on the possibility of covering the later stages of the competition in a reality TV format.

The aim of the initiative is to encourage and support a culture of entrepreneurship among young people in Ireland, to promote entrepreneurship as a career choice, and to encourage the establishment and development of new innovative businesses by Ireland’s young entrepreneurs. This is hugely important for job-creation as two thirds of all new jobs are generated by businesses in the first five years of existence – more start-ups and a thriving entrepreneurial culture will lead to more jobs being created.

This project is an integral part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014 and is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through the Local Enterprise Offices.

Applying is simple – go to localenterprise.ie or your Local Enterprise Office in Waterford City or Dungarvan – and the deadline is 30^th June 2014.

Top Ten Tip Lunches served up in Waterford

Mr. Ciaran Cullen, LEO Waterford and Mr. Des Whelan, WLRfm

‘Top Ten Lunches’ are a series of networking lunches on the theme of ‘Top Ten Business Tips' delivered by successful Waterford business people and occurring once per month.

These lunches take place in the Tower Hotel Waterford from 12.30pm to 2pm with the inaugural  lunch featuring Des Whelan of WLR fm.

This series is also an appropriate way to introduce the new Local Enterprise Office in Waterford to local business people.

Des Whelan, Managing Director of WLR fm was the first speaker in the series of lunches, with his ‘Top Ten Tips on branding your business’. Des is also founding shareholder and Director of Beat 102 – 103 and Radio Nova in Dublin. He is Chairman of Red fm in Cork, the Waterford Tall Ships Festival in 2011 and the Waterford Viking Marathon. His branding tips come from over 35 successful years’ experience in business.

 

The next speaker is Louise Grubb, founder of Nutri-science and Q1 Scientific. Louise will be giving her ‘Top Ten Tips for business expansion’ on Thursday July 3rd. Future speakers include Ronan Mulligan of Mulligan’s Pharmacy, John Noonan of Flahavan’s and Grainne Walsh of Metalman Brewing.

 

The cost of these events is just €8.50, this is for the cost of the lunch alone.  Booking is essential. For more information or to register your interest please contact your Local Enterprise Office in Waterford on

051-849905 or email info@leo.waterfordcouncil.ie .

HCS Business Solutions recognised as finalist in 2014 Microsoft Small Business Partner Awards

Neil Phelan, HCS Business Solutions and Ciaran Keohane, SMB Group Lead Ireland, Microsoft

HCS Business Solutions was recently announced as a finalist in the 2014 Microsoft Small Business Partner Awards. The company was honoured among a global field of top Microsoft Corporation partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology.

Based in Waterford’s Cleaboy Business Park, HCS which employs 20 staff, held off stiff competition as more than 3,200 entries were received from 112 countries. 

In total there were 46 awards celebrating each of the core partner competencies, including cloud technology; Windows 8, Office and SharePoint applications; public sector; citizenship; sales excellence; and many more.  The award finalists and winners were selected from a group of nominations based on their commitment to customers, their solutions’ market impact and exemplary use of Microsoft technologies.

Director of HCS Business Solutions, Mr. Neil Phelan was delighted that the company was awarded such a prestigious accolade. “It’s a wonderful tribute for HCS to receive.  We became Microsoft’s first Gold Small Business partner in Ireland just two years ago, so to be recognised as a finalist on Microsoft’s global platform is a resounding endorsement of the team’s work here in Waterford and Dublin.”

“The criteria for the category were quite extensive, however we demonstrated that HCS has been proficient in embracing Microsoft services and providing innovative I.T. solutions to our clients which are, primarily, SMB’s across the whole of Ireland.”

“Microsoft’s core competencies differentiate them from any other competitor and as part of the Microsoft framework, HCS embraces those competencies, offers technological innovation, sales and service support, whilst all the while developing and building relationships with our customers.”

Phil Sorgen, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft Corp added, “Microsoft’s success as a company depends on great partners, and HCS Business Solutions is a shining example of the kind of innovation our partner ecosystem drives year after year.”

“We are honoured to recognise HCS Business Solutions as this year’s finalist of the 2014 Microsoft Small Business Partner award, and we applaud the team at HCS in their dedication to providing innovative solutions that drive results for our mutual customers.”

HCS Business Solutions will be represented at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, which is the annual, global convergence of Microsoft’s top partners, in Washington D.C. from July 13th to 17th.

For further details about the software, infrastructure and IT services HCS Business Solutions provides visit www.hcs.ie or call 051 595200 or 01 873 4120.