Westmeath LEO paid €843,000 business grants last year

The Local Enterprise Office (LEO) paid out €843,000 to 43 businesses in Westmeath last year, Christine Charlton of the Local Enterprise Office, told members of Westmeath County Council at their January meeting on Monday 28.

Working with businesses employing 10 staff or fewer, the LEO supports start-ups and expanding businesses, with information and advice; financial supports, encouraging entrepreneurship and economic development, Ms Charlton explained.

Operating clinics in Mullingar and Athlone, it advises on state supports to businesses, as well as providing a professional panel of mentors from different sectors.

“Last week we had an Intertradeireland event, providing assistance for people trading in the North, and five of our businesses were able to avail of it. We will also be offering export and Brexit clinics,” she said.

“Last year we offered 43 grants to businesses in Westmeath, 13 start-up grants, 26 business expansions grants, and four feasibility study grants. That totalled €824,000 in grant aid last year,” said Ms Charlton.

Other types of grants available include TAME, Technical Assistance for Micro Exporters, allowing businesses to explore new markets overseas.

Nineteen businesses availed of a new grant which looks at efficiency savings, while a total of 67 business training programmes were run last year.

“There were in the area of start your own business, management development, digital media, accounts, and GDPR,” explained Ms Charlton.

This coming year there will be further supports coming under the Agile Innovation Fund, which allows for research and development, offering businesses anything up to €150,000 and even as much as €300,000.

The Westmeath LEO office can also help businesses secure loan facilities, achieving loans of up to €25,000.

“We also received a fund to promote Brexit supports last year and we hosted two seminars and 65 people attended. Businesses were able to avail of a mentor to assist them in preparing for Brexit,” said Ms Charlton.

The LEO also promotes local businesses on a European network for businesses looking to source products abroad or those seeking franchise opportunities.

There are also entrepreneurship supports, and these come in the form of competitions to develop and encourage entrepreneurship in small businesses.

For instance, this year between March 5 and 8, International Enterprise Week takes place.

“In July we will be hosting a business innovation fund which will be looking for business to develop new products – something innovative – and the prize fund for that €25,000,” Ms Charlton continued.

There’s also a €50,000 prize fund for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur and the Student Enterprise Programme, in which nine schools participated last year.

The Westmeath LEO also encourages businesses to exhibit at the National Ploughing Championships, Showcase Ireland, Engineering Network, and the Life Sciences exhibition.

Ms Charlton outlined how this year also saw the launch of the Shop Front Scheme, which businesses can apply for and get up to €2,500 for refurbishing their shop fronts.

Shop Fronts

Cllr Michael O’Brien commended the work of the Westmeath LEO and said it was making people aware of the supports available to them. However, he had a bone to pick over the shop front grant scheme.

“It was step in the right direction in terms of enhancing our aesthetic appeal right across the county,” he said, “however, I was under the impression that the shop front grant was applicable to all ratepayers right across the county, every village and town – but, unfortunately, I learned that is not the case.

“Villages like Rosemount, Mount Temple and Castledaly, cannot apply. It’s based on the tiers of the towns and villages in the County Development Plan – which is ridiculous,” argued Cllr O’Brien.

“It’s another kick in the face to rural Ireland, where places are struggling, where we’ve seen a lot of closures.

“A lick of paint would make a big differences to shops. I cannot accept this and I feel any ratepayer here in this county should be allowed to avail of this grant,” he stated.

In agreement were Cllrs Aengus O’Rourke, Paul Hogan, Frankie Keena, and John Dolan.

Responding to the query, director of services at Westmeath County Council, Barry Kehoe, said the shop front enhancement scheme was always focused on the towns and villages.

“It was clearly stated that it would apply to the five tiers within the County Development Plan,” he said.

“The reason for focusing it on towns and villages in particular is that it was intended that it would complement the investment that was made in the public realm,” explained Mr Kehoe.

“In the last year and into 2019, we’ve invested €10m of public money between Athlone, Mullingar and Kilbeggan, and to a lesser extent, to other towns and villages around the county.

“What we’re trying to do with this project is to incentivise property owners to put investment in their premises because it’s one thing to do up a street, it’s another thing for private investors to do up their building to complement the investment in the street.

“This is the mechanism that we’re using to do that. We wanted to focus on areas that have the highest footfall of tourists, and that is in our largest towns and villages,” he continued.

However, Mr Kehoe said councillors would have a change to revisit this when a review of the scheme takes place in September in the context of preparing the 2020 budget.