Launch of the ICE Innovation Benchmark Survey Report

Jonathan Bell MLA, Northern Ireland Junior Minister at the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, launched the ICE (Innovation for Competitive Enterprises) project Innovation Benchmarking Survey Report on the 28^th June at the University of Ulster’s Belfast Campus.

ICE, a project funded by the European Union’s INTERREG IVA Programme, is designed to enhance the innovation capacity of local Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) through an intensive twelve month ‘learning by doing’ programme. The three year project is enabling 90 SME company participants to develop new and improved business models, products and services.

A core part of the programme for the partners, involved carrying out a survey of a representative sample of 200 companies from each of the INTERREG eligible regions of Northern Ireland, the Border Region of Ireland and Western Scotland. In all 606 companies were surveyed and Professor Richard Harris of the University of Glasgow compiled and analysed the results and detailed these in an extensive report, which has been endorsed by European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

Professor Harris gave an overview of the report at the event highlighting that ‘evidence from academics and businesses alike clearly shows that companies who innovate are much more likely to have higher productivity, and that this leads to greater prospects for long term growth and survival. This report provides further confirmation that certain firm-level characteristics (such as size, selling to international markets, adopting a culture based on ‘product design’, as the most important factors in determining competitiveness) are clearly important in determining whether to invest in innovation-related activities’.

The report and its findings are available to download at here

At the launch, Kieran Fegan (ICE Programme Manager) provided an overview of ICE and highlighted how it is helping SMEs from across the region become more innovative by developing new and improved products, services, processes and business models. Michel Fitzpatrick, Business Development Manager of Newry based ICE Participant Company FM Environmental Ltd made it all very real, by telling how Innovation and business partnering has been instrumental in helping a 21st century business succeed internationally. Michel also talked about how his company is benefiting from ICE support and how the programme is helping the company become more innovative.

Speaking at the launch Kieran Fegan stated "ICE is designed to enhance the innovation capacity of local Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) through an intensive practical twelve month ‘learning by doing’ programme. The three year project will enable 90 SME company participants to develop new and improved business models, products and services. The ICE Innovation Benchmarking Report validates the need for the unique approach being adopted by ICE which is currently helping SMEs from across the regions become more innovative"

ICE has received approximately €2.49 million of support under the INTERREG IVA Programme, with assistance from Scottish Enterprise; the partnership is spearheaded by Dundalk Institute of Technology. Representing a truly collaborative approach, Dundalk Institute of Technology is implementing the project alongside the University of Ulster, the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University.

Welcoming the report, Howard Keery, Director with the Special EU Programmes Body, said: “This EU funded report is a useful barometer in gaining a better understanding of the value that our businesses place on innovation. It highlights the pressing need for the private sector, on a cross-border basis, to fully embrace innovative working practices and product development.”

For further information on ICE contact the Regional Development Centre at DkIT on Tel: 00353 42 9370425 or contact Kieran Fegan directly on 00353 87 417 4681 or via Email on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The ICE website can be found at www.iceprogramme.com

Novation Enterprise Support Programme announces €228 million turnover

DkIT announces innovative DCU collaboration for 2011/12

(L-R Mr Denis Cummins President DkIT, Prof. Brian McCraith, President DCU and Mr Conor Fahy, Regional Director Enterprise Ireland)

Dundalk Institute of Technology, (DkIT) in collaboration with Dublin City University (DCU) is pleased to announce details of this year’s Novation Enterprise Platform Programme, (NEPP). The programme is open to all graduates operating (or wishing to operate in) in the Knowledge Based and Technology sectors or are proposing the development of a novel product or service in the sector.

DkIT has been operating the NEPP programme, (which offers business persons and entrepreneurs alike 9 months of highly comprehensive business training and advice) successfully for the past ten years and this year decided to expand the opportunities being afforded to the 15 people recruited onto the programme by collaborating with DCU to provide an even greater breath of experience and opportunity.

Denis Cummins DKIT President, explains the rationale behind the collaboration. ‘The Novation Enterprise Platform Programme has been very successful and over the last ten years participant businesses have achieved a cumulative sales turnover in excess of €228 million. This has been achieved with an investment from the HEA of just €1.5 million. We now want to build further on that success. Working in collaboration with DCU and Invent will afford additional, exciting and innovative networking and research opportunities for the course participants’. President Cummins goes on to remark ‘Together both Institutes will be in a very strong position to encourage further growth through its participant businesses in both the home and export driven markets’

DCU President Brian McCraith expresses his delight in being involved with DkIT in the Novation programme. He says, “Since its inception DCU has been known for its collaborative engagement with industry. Because of this experience and our extensive network of contacts we have a lot to offer emerging entrepreneurs in terms of access to intellectual property and to science. Our own Invent Centre has firmly established DCU as a leading player nationally in technology transfer and commercialization. This initiative is a clear example of our commitment to entrepreneurship and we look forward to making a tangible contribution to the regional economy”.

The success and track record of the DkIT Novation programme to date is clearly evident following an assessment of current and past NEPP participants. With total sales generated in excess of €68 million in 2010 (export revenues close to €20 million) and 65% of participants who have taken part over a ten year period (2001-2010) still in business, DKIT is in a strong position to build and expand its current operation. Garrett Duffy with responsibility for the day to day running of the NEPP programme puts things in perspective, ‘By the year end 2011 the programme will have generated employment in excess of 400 people. An impressive €53 million has been raised in capital funding to date and the programme has already seen 3 National winners in the highly prestigious Inter Trade Ireland Seed corn Competition, (Sean Gallagher SmartHomes Dragon’s Den/Deirdre Mc Cormack Mcor Technologies and Kieran Fitzpatrick Barracuda FX). With the new DCU collaboration, Duffy believes the future looks promising, and believes we will continue to see exponential sales growth figures.

Speaking at the launch Mr Conor Fahy, Regional Director Enterprise Ireland said "Enterprise Ireland welcomes the collaboration between the great teams within DkIT and DCU. It offers a tremendous opportunity to support business start-ups that will have a key role in fostering our recovery via entrepreneurship".

The NEEP programme which will be jointly delivered on both campuses will provide a vast range of acquired skill sets. Apart from expert business training and advice participants can expect mentoring in a very broad range of areas including business and personal coaching, co-working facilities and shared knowledge in accessing investment funding.

The next Novation Enterprise Platform Programme starts in June 2011 and is open for applications. Visit www.rdc.ie/nepp or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Launch of New Book: Irish Cases in Entrepreneurship

The Accelerating Campus Entrepreneurship (ACE) Initiative launches a new publication for entrepreneurship education in the third level sector. The book entitled: “Irish Case Studies in Entrepreneurship” was launched on Friday 8th April at the Regional Development Centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology. Paul Kerley, originally from Dundalk, CEO of Norkom Technologies Group Limited formally launched the book.

The book launch event was attended by over 100 delegates, mostly policy makers and enterprise educators on the island but also included esteemed entrepreneurship academics from Europe. Delegates were welcomed to the launch by the President of Dundalk IT, Denis Cummins and were treated to a keynote speech by Paul Kerley on the practical realities of entrepreneurship.

The cases are written by staff at the teaching interface, by recent graduates, and by experts and mentors involved with growing commercially viable ventures. The cases will be of value to all enterprise educators as part of their pedagogical toolkit for delivering enterprise education.

The editor, Dr Cecilia Hegarty is Research and Programme Manager for the Regional Development Centre based at Dundalk Institute of Technology. The publisher is Oak Tree Press, a leading specialist publisher in the area of entrepreneurship in Ireland.

The Accelerating Campus Entrepreneurship (ACE) Initiative is a joint collaboration of Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, Cork Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Sligo and National University of Ireland Galway and is being led by Dundalk Institute of Technology.

If you would like further information on this event please email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . If you would like to order a copy of the book please contact Oak Tree Press directly by email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

During the event, potential paritcipants were able to hear more about the programme and the topic of succession planning from the STS expert team. The guest speaker was Dermot McNally from Rossmore Furniture by McNally & Finlay and the audience also heard humorous accounts from three previous STS participant companies who are 75% through the programme.

The Success through Succession Programme aims to strategically assist family owned and family related SMEs in the border region to manage the challenges of succession and to increase innovation, growth and competitiveness. The programme is now open for recruitment for the second cohort of ten family businesses

Are you a family business?

Can you commit three full-days to this programme? There will be three face-to-face workshops and in between each workshop the participant company can avail of in-house mentoring (at the company premises), the STS programme manager assists the participant company in identifying what their needs are, examples as follows:-

Financial mentoring – can the business afford to hire a key employee to take over the work of a family business member who wants to exit the business? Can the business develop in two directions?

Legal – tax planning and legal shareholders agreements

Psychology – identifying the strengths and weaknesses of family and non-family members in the top management team, improving working relationships between family members

Business – What direction is this business really capable of going in? Are there new market/innovation opportunities?

Throughout the duration of the 12-month programme, the STS team will work with the different various family members to work out their own individual needs and how this impacts upon the family business and the family unit in order to gain an understanding of the process of succession planning. It is not expected that succession will be an immediate outcome of this project but rather to understand how to go about the process and the implications of making the different decisions. At the end of the programme companies will have developed a succession plan and will have a clearer idea of where the business could go in the future. Anyone – young or old – can plan for the succession of the family business, remember succession will happen if you plan for it or not.

To register your interest in this programme, please email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Telephone the Programme Manager for Ireland, Dr Cecilia Hegarty on Tel: +353 (0) 429370422

Student Enterprise Engineer Excellence

Student Enterprise at DkIT hosted their most recent guest speaking event titled 'Celebrating Manufacturing in Ireland' on Thursday 7th of April. The event was organised to illustrate that there are still opportunities for manufacturing in Ireland and also to highlight the relationship both of our guest companies have with DkIT.

Our speakers were Ruth McAdam, Director of Multihog and Martin McVicar CEO, Combilift who each gave a 30-40 minute talk, followed by a demo of their respective machines in the DkIT football pitches.

Ruth Mc Adam gave an inspirational speech to the students outlining the background to the company and the industry and also highlighting that over half of the team at Mulitihog at present are past graduates of DkIT. Multihog base their company around the idea of One Machine – One Driver – Endless Applications. All Multihog products are manufactured in Ireland with emphasis on robust design, product development and innovative customer solutions. Specialist areas include; winter maintenance, ground care and amenities, agricultural ground care, motorway maintenance and forestry applications. Currently they are producing one machine a week in their facility on the Ardee Road.

Combilift are located in Monaghan. Martin McVicar and Robert Moffett formed the company in 1998. With a combined engineering experience of over 40 years, they used their knowledge and practical experience to create the ultimate long-load material handling solution. In just eleven years Combilift has grown to be the global leader in the long-load handling market. Combilift products can be found in over 50 markets worldwide. Martin Mc Vicar provided the students of DkIT with a very comprehensive speech about his products and ensured the students that there are plenty of job opportunities available for students leaving Third Level Education.

The guest speaking event was aimed mainly at students and staff in the School of Engineering although there was a large turnout from other schools also. This was an excellent opportunity for any student especially those within the School of Engineering to look at an alternative perspective on potential career opportunities, entrepreneurial experiences and an insight into New Product Development. Combilift and Multihog have both been past graduate employers.

With an excellent turnout of over 120 students, the Engineering Theatre (C106) was packed to capacity. 'Celebrating Manufacturing in Ireland’ was an excellent event and provided the students of DkIT with some excellent practical examples and real life solutions. If you were unfortunate to miss this event and would like to learn more about Multihog and Combilift, please see the below links;

http://www.combilift.com/En/HOME.aspx

http://www.multihog.co.uk/

Student Enterprise would like to send out a special thank you to Martin Mc Vicar and Ruth Mc Adam for giving their time. Also, to Eugene Roe and the staff of Engineering for promoting the event to all their students and their attendance on the day.

First Five Smart Start Companies Announced

New Programme Accelerates Local Businesses towards Global Success

Smart Start, the new accelerator programme for high potential start-ups, today announced details of the first five Irish companies to receive its funding and support.

Selected from over 150 applications, the five successful companies have each received €12,000 in seed funding and will now embark on a four month programme of business and financial mentoring to fast track their business ideas towards commercial success.

The chosen participants, who represent a range of industry sectors, are:

Ø Louth based Adrian Flynn of Aqua Fresh Fish, an environmentally friendly method of farming exotic fish in land-based recirculation aquaculture systems.

Ø Louth based Helen Bradley-Lennon and Damian Purcell of GolfersDen, a multi-functional golf platform that enables golfers to access top structured video tuition on an iphone app.

Ø Carlow based Gavin O’Reilly and Dublin man Stephen Doherty of Recruitlegal.com, a niche online jobs board aimed initially at the US legal sector.

Ø Galway based Gary Stewart of Paretos CRM, a highly flexible, easy to use online sales management system.

Ø Dubliner Joanna Norton of Click4ESOL, which creates multi-media learning content to support the language and literacy needs of second language speakers.

Founded by business mentor and trainer Gerry Moan, Smart Start pools bright ideas, passion and vision with experienced mentors, funding and advice. Supported by Enterprise Ireland, the programme is based at the Regional Development Centre (RDC) at Dundalk Institute of Technology.

Smart Start’s team of national and international mentors, investors and serial entrepreneurs comprises financial, legal and technology specialists from Deloitte, Byrne Wallace, HEWconsulting, Razor Coast, Tapadoo and Sharp Design. The programme will introduce participants to angel investors throughout Ireland and the UK and also has established venture capital relationships with BK Partners and US based Garage Technology Ventures.

In return for a 6% equity stake in each company, Smart Start provides seed funding as well as expertise, resources and networks to help shape the businesses for future growth.

Speaking at the programme launch, founder Gerry Moan, said “These five companies demonstrated tested business concepts, a strategic growth vision and a hunger for success. We will now partner with them every step of the way, by investing not only finance but also our expertise and experience.”

Commenting on the announcement, Tom Hayes, divisional manager of entrepreneurship at Enterprise Ireland, said “Enterprise Ireland welcomes the new programme which provides emerging technology companies with an ideal opportunity to further develop their new business proposition. The emergence of new innovative export-led start-ups will play a vital role in Ireland’s economic recovery. The Smart Start programme is another example of the expanding eco-system providing support to start-ups.”

The programme culminates in a trip to Silicon Valley, where the companies will have an opportunity to pitch their businesses to a range of venture capitalists and potential angel investors.

For further information, visit www.smartstart.ie

Discovery Zone Programme


Following the success of the first Discovery Zone Programme which was launched last november,
we are currently taking applications for programmes in Louth, Meath and Monaghan.

For more details or an application form please contact;

Joanne Kearns
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Jobs with Vennetics

RDC Incubation company Vennetics currently have job vacancies.

See link for more details

http://www.vennetics.com/jobs.html

Bright Ideas 2011

“A small idea is the birthplace for great accomplishment.”

Bright Ideas is an opportunity. This opportunity will facilitate students and recent graduates with the necessary resources and support networks to come up with or further an existing business idea. Bright Ideas will secondly provide training, mentoring and other resources to take their idea on a career path. Bright Ideas is a four week series of workshops (beginning the 8th of June) with two days contact time per week on a workshop and guest speaker basis, with resources such as hotdesking, mentoring etc available the remaining three days. Bright Ideas will cover topics such as idea generation, application of the idea (i.e. identifying the customer, protecting the idea, gap in the market, funding, innovating etc.) and personal development. Topics will be delivered by experts in the field as well as additional peer to peer mentoring. The course will assist participants in developing their business idea; ascertaining their market, build their inter-personal skills and furthermore gain an insight into the business world. Bright Ideas will begin on the 8th of June and run until the 30th of June. It is hoped that participants will gain an appreciation for the process of taking an idea and maximising its potential possibilities and hopefully gaining access to the Student Innovation Fund in the process.

Email Student Enterprise @ DkIT for further information or an application form

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