Call for Expressions of Ideas for Regional Enterprise Initiatives

In February 2015, as part of the Government’s “Action Plan for Jobs: Regional” initiative, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton T.D., announced funding for a competitive process to drive enterprise growth and new employment in all regions.  As part of this initiative, Enterprise Ireland ran:

  • A €5 million Community Enterprise Initiative Scheme to support collaborative proposals to promote entrepreneurship, create jobs, foster innovation and enhance export opportunities for small business.
  • A €5 million Competitive Fund for Local Enterprise Offices to fund initiatives impacting on and supporting micro-enterprise throughout the country.

At this stage, Enterprise Ireland intends to issue a further formal open competitive call for strategic, sectorally focused and regionally based projects later this year.

Objective of Expression of Ideas Call

To inform the design of this formal open competitive call, Enterprise Ireland invites submissions that will:

  • Help to identify potential areas of enterprise and sectoral opportunities in regions; and
  • Stimulate a future pipeline of potential strategic, sectorally focused and regionally based projects.

Such projets will be:

  • Industry-driven project/s that leverage identified regional strengths and sectoral opportunities.
  • Collaborative in nature, involving key stakeholders (private–private / public–private) in a region or across more than one region. The collaboration may take the form of “clusters” and “enterprise hubs”, a further deepening of SME–Higher Education Sector engagement in regions, and/or formal structures and teams to drive collaborative projects.
  • Able to demonstrate clear benefits to the enterprise base and the region/s (for example, increased design-led innovation, enterprise capability, procurement and supply chain opportunities, start-up activity, etc).

Invitation for Submissions

Enterprise Ireland invites submissions identifying ideas for future strategic, sectorally-focused and regionally-based projects that can make a significant and lasting impact in regions. In 4-5 pages, proposers are asked to detail their ideas in terms of the following:

  • What is the opportunity / project?
  • What are the sectoral strengths that the project / opportunity builds on?
  • Who are the key partners required to harness the opportunity?
  • What is the estimated cost of the initiative and how will the initiative be funded?
  • How will the initiative be made sustainable in the long run?
  • What is the potential impact of the initiative (e.g. start-up creation, direct or indirect jobs).

Interested parties are asked to return an electronic copy of their idea to:

Deadline for Submissions

The deadline for submissions is 12 noon on Friday, 11th September 2015.

 Further Information

For further information can be obtained by contacting Paula Maguire at:

Paula Maguire
Enterprise Ireland
Tel: +353 1 727 2338

Notes

  • The submission ideas under this call does not confer any advantage on subsequent funding applications to Enterprise Ireland nor does it in any way indicate an intention by Enterprise Ireland to make a financial commitment.
  • Enterprise Ireland will not release any information received except as may be required by law, including the Freedom of Information Act 2014. In the event of a Freedom of Information request, the proposer will be given reasonable advance notice in order to contest such disclosure.

Background Notes

Enterprise Ireland is the national agency with responsibility for the development of Irish enterprise, deepening Ireland’s footprint in world markets, and supporting employment creation in our economy. Enterprise Ireland’s mission is focused on increasing the number of companies starting-up, succeeding, expanding, exporting and ultimately creating jobs in Ireland. Enterprise Ireland’s client base comprises three main categories:

  • Manufacturing and internationally traded services companies employing ten or more people (and with a focus on exporting);
  • Innovation led start-ups with the potential to grow on international markets; and
  • Irish food companies, both those home-grown in Ireland, and those that are overseas owned or controlled.

Enterprise Ireland provides supports to business across all stages of business development.

Since the National Action Plan for Jobs process commenced in 2012, over 100,000 jobs have been created in the economy.  However, not all regions are yet fully experiencing the benefits of economic recovery.  The pace of progress in the regions – and especially those with the highest unemployment levels – needs to be accelerated through targeted supports for enterprise and job creation.   Vibrant and competitive regions are important, not just from an economic perspective, but also from a societal point of view.  Growing the economic base of regions supports social cohesion and provides opportunities for families to continue to live and work in their local communities.  The Government’s 2015 Action Plan for Jobs places an emphasis on developing the jobs potential of the regions.  It includes a commitment to develop and publish a suite of Regional Action Plans to support enterprise growth and job creation in the regions which will complement and contribute to the Local Economic and Community Plans to be developed by the Local Authorities and the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies to be developed by the new Regional Assemblies.  More information on the Government’s “Action Plan for Jobs: Regional”
initiative is available at the link below.

http://www.djei.ie/press/2015/20150211.htm