Jobseeker Support Programme 2014

The Cork Chamber Business School are running a Job-seekers Support Programme in Building 4100 Cork Airport Business Park where there are 15 free places for unemployed people.

Last year this programme successfully secured employment for a number of job-seekers and those people are still in full time employment after being unemployed for over two years.

The main outcomes of the programme are:

• Very high possibility of full time employment out of the course - once the necessary skills, knowledge and aptitude are demonstrated following training
• Building confidence in selling oneself in an interview
• Building confidence in oneself by following a tried and tested process
• 4 weeks work experience in a contact centre (which will demonstrate experience dealing with customers - as experience is always asked for in a customer service and sales role inbound/outbound)
• Basic skills in using word and excel
• Building an impressive curriculum vitae and role play in conducting a job interview     
• Lots more.....

Open information session at 10.30am Thursday 17^th July in 4100 Cork Airport Business Park where the Cork Chamber Business School will outline the course content and deliver dates, and a potential employer will outline the work involved throughout the four weeks on the job training and work experience as well as explaining what is required to secure full time employment in their company.

“I am thrilled that Cork innovates will represent Ireland, as a finalist in the award category ‘promoting the entrepreneurial spirit’ and that it is getting such Prominent European recognition,” said Siobhan Finn, Chief Executive, Cork innovates.

“Clearly, the model has made a significant impact in promoting an entrepreneurial spirit in the community. We, as a group, are firmly committed to building on the entrepreneurial environment through mutual engagement and alignments with external stakeholder groups, supporting entrepreneurs and the extended business community,” she added.

Cork innovates was established in 2012 when Cork City Council and Cork County Council, along with Cork Chamber, UCC, CIT, the Local Enterprise Offices, Enterprise Ireland, CorkBIC and South West Regional Authority formed the Cork Entrepreneurship Steering Group.

Mr. Tom Hayes the head of the Micro Enterprise and Small Business Division, Enterprise Ireland commented on the nomination: “Congratulations to Cork Innovates for being nominated to the European Enterprise Promotion Awards on behalf of Ireland. This project is a shining example of excellence in promoting SMEs and entrepreneurship in a tough economic climate here in Ireland. We are delighted that this project has been submitted to the European competition to represent Ireland.”

The EEPA reward excellence in promoting entrepreneurship and small business at a national, regional and local level and look to identify and recognise successful activities and initiatives undertaken to promote enterprise and entrepreneurship, showcase and share examples of best entrepreneurship policies and practices, create a greater awareness of the role entrepreneurs play in European society and encourage and inspire potential entrepreneurs.

The number of startups in Cork has almost doubled from 800 in 2012 to 1542 in 2013. The Cork innovates InBusiness InCork showcase is specifically targeted to SMEs and startups and entrepreneurs and has attracted and supported more than 2,800 business people and potential startups since the initial showcase in 2012. The Cork innovates bursaries are also actively helping two Cork businesses grow and expand their companies, with a view to creating more jobs. 

European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, said: "Highlighting the success stories of entrepreneurship promotion helps inspire European public bodies and public private partnerships to be more business-focused and business-friendly. We look forward to seeing what exciting and innovative projects are put forward by 2014 entries to the European Enterprise Promotion Awards."

Category winner will be announced at the 2014 SME Assembly in Naples, Italy, in October. For further information visit http://ec.europa.eu/.

Business Partnership Opportunities

• A Northern Ireland company which designs and builds bespoke solutions, that include high bandwidth and low latency connectivity, such as satellite links, seeks to build partnerships with business park or incubation centre managers in Ireland, who will act as agents in selling this product to their tenants. For more information about this profile, contact Eimear@corkchamber.ie and quote 20120727030
• An Italian company which specialises in the production and trade of or organic fertilisers seeks distributors to expand its market reach. The company is a pioneer in the field of industrial composting and is renowned at a national level for its capacity to process organic waste. For further information on this profile, contact Eimear@corkchamber.ie and quote BOIT20140623004
• A UK manufacturer and supplier of plastic building and plumbing systems, which include rainwater harvesting, drainage systems, hot and cold plumbing; would like to increase their market outside the UK and seeks distributors in the building and eco-construction sector. Its new rainwater harvesting system enables home owners to recycle rainwater and potentially reduce their water bill by up to 50%, in an environmentally sustainable manner. It can also alleviate pressure on local drainage in line with sustainable drainage schemes to help prevent flood risk. For further information about this profile, contact Eimear@corkchamber.ie and quote BOUK20140205004
• An Italian company focussed on the development, production and sale of concrete roof tiles and roofing systems offers its product range to agents, representatives, and distributors for commercialisation. In terms of the company’s production capacity, it is Italy’s largest manufacturer of concrete roof tiles and roofing systems. For further information about this profile, contact Eimear@corkchamber.ie and quote BOIT20140603001.

To view all of the profiles contained within the Enterprise Europe Network database please click here

2014 American-Irish Business Forum, Croke Park and Dublin Castle, 28 August 2014

The American-Irish Business Forum will take place in Croke Park on 28 August 2014. This single day event will bring together high level stakeholders from both the public and private sectors in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ireland. The event will ‘kick off’ with a football game and the business conference will focus specifically on trade and enterprise between Florida, Pennsylvania and Ireland.

The Forum will highlight opportunities in targeted sectors including: Energy, Infrastructure, Information and Communications Technologies, Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Agribusiness, Manufacturing, and Higher Education. To register for this event, click here. 

At the first ever United Nations Environment Assembly, which concluded in Nairobi last week, the European Commission proposed that Ireland and Germany would jointly take responsibility for the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Environment Monitoring System for Water (GEMS/Water) (www.unep.org/gemswater). The UN Environment Assembly agreed unanimously to the proposal and the transfer of responsibilities will take place in the autumn.

Ireland will lead with the capacity building, with University College Cork (UCC) coordinating the Irish activities through the newly established UCC GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre. Other universities involved will be TCD, NUIG and DCU and it is also hoped to involve some Irish companies that have relevant expertise in water and data capture and processing. Germany will coordinate the data collection and manage the GEMStat information system.

At the request of Mr. Phil Hogan TD, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, UCC has agreed to coordinate the efforts of the Irish universities to assist GEMS/Water by leveraging the expertise in the area of water that is already within Irish universities.

“Providing adequate freshwater of sufficient quality to support sustainable development globally in 2015 and beyond is a major challenge”, said UCC’s Dr Debbie Chapman, a member of the Irish delegation at Nairobi.

“By combining the broad and extensive experience in water quality monitoring and management available in Irish universities, we will be making a major contribution to meeting this challenge through our capacity development activities as co-hosts of GEMS/Water. We will be reaching out globally to provide training for water quality monitoring and to promote water quality assessment. UCC will be in the forefront of activities to address global water issues and environmental sustainability.”

The President of UCC, Dr Michael Murphy, welcoming the announcement, remarking: “Ireland has a long association with water and Irish universities have both expertise and capacity to address the very significant global challenges that exist in this area. Being involved with the UNEP in helping to solve some of these very important global issues will be good not only for Ireland but also for the universities involved and we in UCC look forward to playing our part.”

“UCC is honoured to be able to lead in the United Nations Environment Programme’s GEMS/Water. We have significant expertise within UCC and we look forward to working with our partners in NUIG, TCD and DCU who also have important expertise in this area.”

“We would like to express our appreciation to Minister Hogan and the Government for their foresight and confidence in getting the Irish universities involved in this initiative. They will leverage the tremendous investment by successive Irish Governments in science and engineering in the universities and they will allow that expertise to be utilised in addressing significant and important global challenges. This will undoubtedly be beneficial not just for the countries involved in this programme, but also for the Irish undergraduates and postgraduates who will now be able to participate in this important work of connecting the regions to the globe. It is also hoped to engage Irish companies with expertise in this sector as part of the work of the Centre and there should be opportunities for these Irish companies to play their role at global level.”

Dress for Success Cork relies solely on sponsorship and volunteers. To support us in continuing this life-changing work, we are asking you to donate just two euro and improve the lives of hundreds of families in Cork. Progress has really been made. Since we opened our doors last October, we have had 124 ladies through our doors. 15% are in employment and 10% have gone onto further education.Please forward to ten of your friends and together we will help more women achieve success in work and in life. To support us with a once off donation of just €2, Please text DRESS to 50300. 100% of text cost goes to Dress for Success Cork across most network providers. Some providers apply VAT which means that a minimum of €1.63 will go to Dress for Success Cork. Service Provider: LIKECHARITY. Helpline: 01 4433890.