Small business will be engine of economic growth

Fed up of economic doom and gloom in the headlines? We at the Westmeath Examiner were, so we looked for people who had laughed in the face of recession and started their own businesses.In this week's paper, Rodney Farry reports from Hanna's Secret, Greene Caine Limited, EyeSeeGames and Ionsonic.Read about their enterprises on page 4, where Rodney writes:Now, more than ever, Ireland needs entrepreneurs. It's the small and medium enterprises dotted throughout Westmeath and elsewhere that will be the engine of economic growth.Even at the best of times it takes a certain kind of character to go into business - to start a business in the depths of the worst recession in decades not only requires an iron will, but also an ability to drown out the naysayers who caution against taking a risk when the clouds that hang over the economy show no signs of evaporating.All the entrepreneurs that we talked to admitted they have made errors in the course of getting their businesses going, but when they fell off the horse they got right back up again.Westmeath needs a vibrant entrepreneurial class. Rather than put obstacles in the way of people such as those we spoke to this week, we should be harnessing their can-do attitude.• www.hypewordgame.com• www.puremeatsnax.ie• www.ionsonic.com• www.westmeathfood.ie/our-members/hanna%E2%80%99s-secret/