Over 500 business people attend Meath Enterprise Week conference – ‘One of the largest Enterprise Weeks in the country’

Meath Enterprise Week 2015, which was partnered with Global Entrepreneurship Week for the second year running, is regarded as one of the largest Enterprise Week’s in Ireland. MEW2015 took place from November 16^th to 19^th in various locations around County Meath, from Athboy in the west of the county to Ashbourne in the east. The many events held during the week and the main event, an Exhibition and Conference on Thursday November 19^th, offered an opportunity to network, engage and learn under three distinct categories of Food, Digital and Entrepreneurship. The Conference and Exhibition on the 19^th was attended by over 500 delegates and was a huge success with high profile speakers, many panel discussions and a busy Exhibition. It was the final event of Meath Enterprise Week and was held in the Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim.

“The feedback for MEW2015 has been extremely positive and the Business Conference & Expo was a huge success with speakers flying in from as far away as Kansas, USA” said Gary O’Meara Manager at Meath Enterprise.

The week started with a number of events on Monday 16^th starting in Athboy with a meeting entitled ‘Down to Work – Back to Business’   hosted by the Louth Meath Education Training Board; Navan Chamber hosted a business networking lunch; while Meath Local Enterprise Office held a workshop that outlined the supports available for start-ups/entrepreneurs; On Monday evening PALS Programme in Ashbourne hosted a talk on “How to be an effective entrepreneur”. Tuesday 17^th saw another busy day for Meath Enterprise Week with the launch of the new BNI Chapter in Navan in the early morning; Two events were hosted by Meath County Council, a presentation on “EU Funding Opportunities” was held mid-morning while in the afternoon   “Market Research – Market Insights with Mintel” was on the agenda; The Schools Enterprise Competition also took place on Tuesday 17^th where students were invited to present to business ideas to a panel of dragons; Advice on ‘How to get trading online’ was given by Meath Local Enterprise Office in Navan while AIB Ashbourne hosted a Digital Seminar on Tuesday evening.

Day three of Meath Enterprise Week had another early start with the BNI Regional Conference taking place in Trim from 7.00am followed by a ‘Business Change-Networking Workshop’ hosted by BNI in Trim; Meath Local Enterprise office held a ‘Business Planning Workshop / Training’ in the afternoon; the AIB Start-up Academy Event took place in their Navan Branch from 6.00pm and the last event of the day was the much anticipated “Boyne Valley Food Hub Advisory Group Inaugural Meeting” which was hosted by Ray Coyle in Tayto Park.

The final day of Meath Enterprise Week was Thursday 19^th and attendees had another early start with a Conference and Exhibition starting at 8.30am in Knightsbrook Hotel in Trim. The Exhibition opened with over 60 leading agencies and businesses from Meath showcasing what they have to offer. After browsing the Expo the delegates took their seats for the official opening and panel discussions. Jackie Maguire, CEO Meath County Council was the first to speak. Other panelists and keynote speakers included Gavin Duffy, Minister Damien English TD, John Harkin, Eleanor Meade, Pierce O’Reilly, Conor Lynch, Olivia Duff, Dane Stangler, Brian Purcell and many more. “The calibre of speakers and panelists at this years conference was exceptional and delegates really enjoyed the discussions which were streamed live on the internet.” said O’Meara. Michael Doyle, Head of Business Banking with AIB, who were one of the main sponsors of Meath Enterprise Week, addressed the conference before Mairead McGuinness MEP rapped up a busy day in Trim which also showacased the very best of Meath and the Boyne Valley with a fantastic free ‘Artisan Buffet Lunch’ in the main restaurant of the Hotel. The final event of MEW2015 was a very well attended ‘Digital Marketing For Beginners” seminar which was hosted by the Ashbourne Chamber late Thursday evening.

A steering committee of business people with specific expertise in the three theme areas was formed by Gary O’Meara, Manager of Meath Enterprise some months ago to develop the week long programme of events. Chaired by Mr. O’Meara the committee include Rosita Moyles, JM Food Services; Conor Lynch, CEO/Founder of Connector and SocialMedia.ie; Margaret McKeon-Boyle, Extensive PR Ltd; Tara Smith, Meath County Council; Felicia Ogboru, Meath Enterprise; John Cunningham, Epicom Ireland Ltd; Amanda Murphy, Regional Manager, AIB; Paul Murtagh, Business Consultant and Mentor; Cllr Joe Reilly, Chairman, Meath Enterprise and newly appointed CEO Local Enterprise Office Meath, Joe English.