Cork Chamber and Lehane Motors who are now Cork City’s new Toyota and Lexus Dealer, present the October Business After Hours Event which will take place at the Rochestown Park Hotel on Thursday 24th October. 

This event will be a Dedicated Networking Event and will offer you ample opportunity to meet and do business with your fellow Cork Chamber members. As always, we will have our 30 minute “speed networking” slot which will help you move to the sound of the bell and guarantee that you meet 8-10 new business contacts – an absolute must for any business looking to grow it’s customer base.

The focus of this, the 3rd seminar, will be on identifying what makes a business investor ready, what business sectors are favoured by private investment and venture capital companies and some new private funding innovations.

Speakers will include Michael O’Connor, CorkBIC who will speak about the Halo Business Angel Network, Marc Rafferty from Linked Finance will introduce the concept of crowd funding and Cork entrepreneur Ernest Cantillon will share his experience of crowd funding a business in Cork.

Date: 19^th November
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Doubletree Hilton Hotel
Cost: €120pp / €1200 per Table
To book: visit our website here

Now in it’s third year, Cork Chamber’s Dublin Dinner 2013 will once again promote the strong connections that exist between Cork and Dublin Businesses and enhance existing business relations between the two regions. It gives unique potential for Dublin-based companies to meet with their Cork peers as well as Cork companies doing business in Dublin. It also affords the opportunity for networking amongst Cork business people who are Dublin based.

For more details and booking information, please CLICK HERE

Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail is undertaking a stakeholder opinion survey.  Through this, they hope to gain insight into key stakeholders views, on transport in general and Iarnród Éireann and rail services in particular, to enable them to address the concerns of, and engage with, stakeholders more effectively in the future.

The business community in Cork is a key stakeholder group for Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail.  Therefore, we would appreciate it if you could take 10 minutes to complete this survey HERE

Date: 29th October
Time: 4.10pm
To book: here
Cost: Free (train only)
Location: Kent station

On October the 30^th/31^st, the Dublin Web Summit, Europe’s Largest Technology event  takes place and Cork stands to be well represented thanks to the efforts of a collective of local Technology Companies - VoxPro, PCH International and Trustev. They have commissioned a charter train called the ‘STARTUP EXPRESS’ to transport nearly 180 entrepreneurs, businesspeople, technologists, students and general startup junkies!

Cork Chamber are delighted to support this event and offer spaces to members. As we know the future of business is tied closely to the future of technology so if you’re interested in what the next few years will bring in terms of new technologies, hear discussions from leading international business people, press and investors, or want to help promote Cork as a leading destination for technology in Europe, GET ON BOARD!

With less than one week to go, budding entrepreneurs and ambitious start-ups are being encouraged to take some time out to submit their application for the 2013 Cork innovates bursary.

The Cork innovates bursary will offer a wide range of services from advertising,  financial advice and mentoring to legal services and membership supports. Everything a business and entrepreneur could need to get started and get ahead is included in this year’s bursary.

The bursary is now open for applications here until 21 October 2013.   

Let’s face it, sometimes we all need a bit of help with our IT skills, there’s always something new to learn! The Business School @ Cork Chamber has two IT courses coming up soon, both designed to make you more effective and efficient in your daily tasks.

First up, on the 25^th October next is our MS Excel Advanced course for those experienced Excel users among you and then on the 1^st November, our Personal Productivity using MS Outlook course is running, designed to help you have an EMPTY INBOX at the end of each day!

The Enterprise Europe Network helps small business to maximise their presence on the European marketplace. Working through a network of local business organisations across Europe and further afield, we can help you develop your business in new markets, source or license new technologies or access EU finance and EU funding.

For more information, please see: www.een-ireland.ie or contact Liz@corkchamber.ie

See the ‘read more’ section (below) for further information on the following:

• Doing Business with India’ networking event 21 October
• B2B Networking Event, November 29, Lisbon, Portugal
• Business partnership opportunities

Cork Chamber, in partnership with Vodafone, is actively looking for Cork based companies that have demonstrated significant achievement and success over the past year. The ‘Cork Company of the Year’ awards are open to all businesses, across varying sectors and sizes, from Emerging to SME’s to Large indigenous and multinational organisations.

Both finalists and winners will receive significant exposure in the media and at Cork Chamber’s Annual Dinner, which is attended by close to 1000 business people, including the country’s leading business and political figures.  

Deadline for entries: Friday, 25^th October at 5pm for nominations and Friday the 1^st of November at 1pm for completed applications

Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to be recognised for your business success in 2013. Apply or nominate here.

The College of Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences, University College Cork has launched a new work placement module, to enhance students' employability and transferable skills through work experience and critical reflection. This work placement initiative is a great opportunity for employers to make a real difference to students University experience. 

For further information, please contact: Elaine Browne Employability Advisor for the College of Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences (CACSSS) Work Placement Module, UCC Career Services e.browne@ucc.ie or (021) 4902945


See ‘read more’ below to find out how this placement programme may be of interest to your business.

Why not celebrate Christmas in Style by having your Christmas Party at the Five star Muckross Park Hotel in Killarney. Party Nights scheduled for the 13^th,14^th and 20^th of December will include, A Mulled wine reception on arrival, A four course gala Christmas Dinner, Live Band and DJ, Great spot prizes,

All for €49.00 per person or €119 per person to include deluxe Bed & Breakfast. For any enquiries please contact Karen Long Corporate Sales Manager at Muckross park on 064/6623400 or 087/1362397.

Date: 24th October
Time: From 9.15am to 1.00pm
Venue: The Maryborough Hotel and Spa, Douglas
Cost: FREE
To book: visit our website here

This event includes information sessions on resource efficiency and best practises in business by IKEA & MAMUKKO and our unique networking rounds offering you a chance to:
• Introduce your organisation in small facilitated groups at round tables in a relaxed informal setting.
• Identify potential synergies with other organisations e.g. exchange unwanted items, surplus products, by-products or off-cuts.

Date: 29 November to 2 December, 2013
Time:  9.00 am to 7.00 pm
Venue: Western Gateway Building, UCC
Cost:  €850
To Book: Dr Patrice Cooper, Department of Management and Marketing, UCC, email patrice@ucc.ie , tel (021) 4902081

Date: October 31-November 1
Time:  7:30am – 5pm (both days)
Cost:  $395.00 (U.S. Dollars)
Venue:  Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
To Book:  visit HERE to pre-register

SelectUSA is a U.S. government initiative to promote and facilitate investment in the United States.  The inaugural SelectUSA 2013 Investment Summit aims to connect international businesses and investors with U.S. economic development organizations at the state, regional, and local levels. Attendees will have an unparalleled opportunity to share investment objectives with relevant experts.

Date: due to be delivered from 4^th November on a part time basis

Find out whether your business might be suited to expansion - using Franchise, Licence or Distributor Models

The National Franchise Centre (NFC) in partnership with Cork innovates has recently announced that it will deliver its hugely successful programme Franchise START in Cork this November.

The programme is 5 days in duration and caters to those who wish to assess the feasibility of business expansion using various models. Often, the cost and time involved in scaling ones venture depends on the complexity of the business, the proposed system and the current position.

To register your interest for Franchise START (due to be delivered from 4^th November on a part time basis) or for further information please logo onto www.nationalfranchisecentre.ie or email: nfc@lit.ie

Helen Smyth manages the Small & Medium Business Team in EMEA at Facebook, where she strives to educate, service and support small & medium sized businesses on Facebook to market and grow their companies. Refreshments will be served after the presentation, providing us all with an opportunity to network and engage with fellow marketers and our guest speaker.