Championing Small Businesses
9th August 2022
Small businesses from across the country will have an opportunity to promote themselves at one of Ireland’s biggest events as part of this year’s Local Enterprise Village at the National Ploughing Championships from the 20-22nd September in Rathiniska, County Laois.
The initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) will see 31 small businesses, one from each LEO, take a stand in the Local Enterprise Village in the heart of the Ploughing Championships, opening their businesses up to almost 300,000 prospective customers across the 3 days of the event.
There will be a variety of products and services on show for the visitors to this year’s Ploughing Championships to enjoy, which includes food, fashion, agtech products, farm safety equipment, spirits, sportswear and even skincare for animals!
The Local Enterprise Village was launched by Damien English, T.D., Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail along with some of the businesses that will be involved including handmade children’s furniture company Lucy & Me, luxury natural skincare and home products Jo Browne and Donegal designer Bernie Murphy.
Minister English emphasised how positive it is to have this opportunity back for small businesses; “The Local Enterprise Village at the Ploughing Championships will showcase the very best of our small business community from across the country. I look forward to joining with almost 300,000 people at the Ploughing and have the opportunity to meet with some of the businesses embedded in our communities and who are the drivers of local economic growth and job creation. Visitors to the Village can expect to see the depth and diversity of amazing small businesses who are supported by Government through their Local Enterprise Office.”
The Local Enterprise Village is just one of a number of initiatives that the Local Enterprise Offices run, to foster entrepreneurship across the country. Others include Local Enterprise Week, the National Enterprise Awards, the Student Enterprise Programme, National Women’s Enterprise Day and Local Enterprise Showcase. The Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities are funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland.
Local Enterprise Village Clients at the National Ploughing Championships 2022
•LEO Carlow – Jo Browne – Natural skincare, perfume and interiors
•LEO Donegal – Bernie Murphy – Irish designer specialising in clothing and textiles
•LEO Fingal – DesignWorks – Portrait photography studio specialising in “Magical” portraits
•LEO Kerry – The Busy Botanist – 100% natural pet skincare products “Holistic Hound”
•LEO Kilkenny – The Cookie Co-Op – An artisan confectionary company
•LEO Longford – Ebroadband Comms – Broadband and fibre broadband company
•LEO Louth – Esker Fields – Handmade natural skincare and essential oils
•LEO Dun Laoghaire – Rathdown – Mummy Cooks – Portable portion pots and food flasks for small children
•LEO Wicklow – Brady’s Coffee – Speciality coffees and teas
•LEO South Dublin – Lucy & Me – Handmade wooden furniture and interiors for children’s rooms
•LEO Westmeath – DCodeDyslexia – A reading programme to teach dyslexic, and struggling, readers to read
•LEO Cavan – GAAWorks.ie – The platform supports players to work and live around home, stay connected with and play for their local Club and County Teams
•LEO Clare – Moher Cottage – Irish gift products store
•LEO Cork City – Rebel City Distillery – Craft distillery producing gin and absinthe
•LEO Dublin City – Concept Dairy – Tech platform bringing price transparency to the dairy supply chain
•LEO Galway – Galway Homeopathics – Veterinary products
•LEO Kildare – TradeForUs.com – Online platform for Producer Organisations & Farm-to-Farm Livestock
Scully Family’s Merry Mill
•LEO Laois – The Merry Mill – Organic oat manufacturer and retailer
•LEO Leitrim – Prime Signs – Safety signs, excavator decals, auctioneer boards, front and back lit letters, temporary and permanent road signs
•LEO Limerick – Juspy – An Irish food-tech company that creates lifestyle nutraceuticals for health conscious consumers in a busy world
Flanagan’s Velvet Cloud
•LEO Mayo – Velvet Cloud – Fresh sheep’s milk yogurt, soft sheep’s milk cheese, semi hard three-month mature sheep’s milk cheese
•LEO Meath – Zarasyl – Innovative silicate technology for the management of skin issues for animals
•LEO Monaghan – Old Carrick Mill – Small batch distillery making premium gin and irish whiskey
•LEO Offaly – Acoustic Interiors – Acoustic Interiors design, manufacture, supply and fit sound insulation and room acoustic treatments to the commercial, educational, entertainment and residential sectors
•LEO Roscommon – MegaFab – Agricultural products
•LEO Sligo – SUIP Manufacturing – Manufacture of Sprayer Attachment for Ride On Lawnmowers & ATV’s
Niamh Hegarty of Niamh’s Larder
•LEO South Cork – Niamh’s Larder – BKultured Water Kefir is a light, delicious and refreshing fermented drink.
•LEO Tipperary – Eco Green Resources – Solar (PV) Photovoltaic for Generating Electricity, Hot Water Heating, Battery Storage, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, LED Lighting Systems
•LEO Waterford – Mac Safety Signs – Supply and install display stands into hardware and Agri stores through the country
•LEO Wexford – BodiBro – Quarter Zips, Jerseys, Hybrid Jackets, Gilet Jackets, Skinny Track Pants, Socks, Shorts, Leggings, Sport Bra’s, Workout Tops
Main Image: Damien English, T.D., Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail and Sarah Power, Founder of Lucy & Me – Handcrafted children’s furniture and interior pictured at the launch of this year’s Local Enterprise Village.
