Schemes approved under Priority 3 of the BMW Regional Operational Plan seek to promote entrepreneurship, in particular by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas and fostering the creation of new firms, including through business incubators.
The objectives of the priority are:
- Foster and grow a cohort of entrepreneurs in the BMW region with the skills and resources to accelerate the start-up and expansion of their enterprises in order to increase employment in supported micro-enterprises.
- Increase the number of established SMEs within the BMW region accessing the supports and finance required for sustainability, internationalisation and growth-oriented actions.
The Schemes which make up the SME Support, Promotion and Capability Development Priority are:
Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs)
The Local Enterprise Offices support innovative and growth-oriented SME start-ups and expansions in growing sectors, through the provision of business information, advisory services, capacity building, mentoring and financial supports.
Financial supports will be targeted at the more value added micro-enterprises, in the manufacturing and traded services activities including high growth and potentially high growth sectors which do not lead to deadweight and or displacement. The non-financial supports are broader and more generally focussed, but also meet the specific needs of high growth and potential high-growth Companies. The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the first stop shop for anybody in Ireland looking to start, develop or grow a business. The LEOs support entrepreneurs and businesses that are eligible for support under current policy.
Visit the Local Enterprise Offices Website for More Information
Enterprise Ireland Enterprise Training and Accelerator ‘New Frontiers’ Programme
Enterprise Ireland operates the entrepreneurship training and accelerator programmes which focus on:
- incubating and accelerating new entrepreneurs/early stage business start-ups;
- assisting entrepreneurs by giving the time, space and support to conduct feasibility studies necessary to ascertain the technical and commercial viability of their proposed start-up business;
- providing financial support to entrepreneurs to support their time and costs when engaged on a start-up programme or on investigating the feasibility of their idea;
- providing structured start-up advice, training and mentoring on key aspects of start-up planning to ensure that entrepreneurs can position an investor ready business plan to prospective investors.
Visit the New Frontiers Website for more information
Enterprise Ireland SME Development Programme
Enterprise Ireland’s SME Development Programme of supports provides grant aid to eligible companies (namely manufacturing and internationally traded services SMEs) to support key investment in areas that drive company productivity and competitiveness including:
- Capital grants – co-financing investment in productive assets to increase capacity and automation in SMEs;
- Employment grants – co-financing expansion of SME employment base in the BMW Region by supporting new employees in expanding firms;
- Training grants – interventions focused on both management and operational training. The projects supported may include company specific and/or general training;
- Key Manager Grants – focused intervention to assist an SME to recruit key management skills and experience in an area of the company that requires capability improvement.
For more information visit the Enterprise Ireland website
