Minister Martin Announces Investment in Five Industry-Led Network Projects

Notes to the Editor:

Contact: Gerard O’Brien, Project Manager, Industry-Led Networks Pilot, Enterprise Ireland. Tel: 01 808 2000. Gerard.obrien@enterprise-ireland.com

www.enterprise-ireland.com/networks

Background:

The Enterprise Strategy Group report, Ahead of the Curve - Ireland’s place in the Global Economy - identified business networks as a potentially useful vehicle for enterprise development in Ireland. The report highlighted the benefits that may be achievable through industry-led initiatives/projects that are undertaken on a collaborative basis and set out the conditions under which state funding should be allocated to industry-led networks, namely:

• State funding should be made available on the basis of defined and independently assessed competitive proposals, designed to meet clearly identified and measurable business objectives
• Participation in network initiatives should be based on the principle of co-funding and
• Proposals should be accepted only from groups of interested parties working in collaboration.

The report also clearly outlined that the scope of collaborative initiatives undertaken by industry-led networks should fall within the national enterprise development objectives, stating, “proposals could seek to address areas of common interest within a long term strategy for national enterprise development.”

The ESG recommended that a pilot phase for enterprise-led business network initiatives should be established and subject to the outcome of this pilot future allocations could be made from existing agency budgets.

Enterprise Ireland Industry Led Networks Pilot Initiative:Objective of pilot:

The objective of the Industry-Led Networks Pilot Scheme is to establish the potential of Industry-led networks to act as a vehicle for achieving enterprise and economic development in Ireland. To this end, the pilot is designed to support, through grant in aid, 10 proposals from Industry networks/groups of companies - comprising of clients of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Shannon Development, Udarás na Gaeltachta and County Enterprise Boards – to undertake time limited collaborative projects that will achieve measurable benefits to members of the networks, in line with national economic development objectives, by addressing the needs of participant companies.

Eligible costs for the pilot include:

• Consultancy fees
• Travel and Subsistence
• Salaries and Wages Overheads and other Additional Costs

Maximum Support Limits?

Support of up to €200,000 or 50% of eligible expenditure, whichever is the lesser, may be available. Funding will exclude all costs associated with network administration.

Who are eligible to apply?

Eligible Networks must include at least five companies who are clients of the development agencies (Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Shannon Development, Udarás na Gaeltachta and/or County Enterprise Boards) and who have agreed to participate in a collaborative project.

Can the Network include other members?

Yes. Once the minimum requirement of 5 agency client companies is met.

The Network may include companies from the same or different sectors, companies from the North of Ireland and/or participants from the extended value chain such as Academics, Venture Capitalists, and Suppliers etc. (Funding however will be allocated to networks/companies based in the Republic of Ireland.)

What type of Projects will be eligible for support?

The Industry-led Pilot aims to support collaborative projects that have been identified by companies as potential contributors to development and growth.

The two main categories for support are as follows;

Category 1: Achieving National Economic Development Objectives through Industry Led networks:

Eligible Projects under Category 1 must address one of the following recognised economic development objectives:

• Regional Development
• Rural Development
• Entrepreneurship
• Women in Enterprise
• All Island or Cross Border Company/Network Initiatives

Category 2: Achieving Joint Company Development Objectives through Industry Led Networks:

Eligible Projects under Category 2 must undertake joint company development activities that have the potential to result in measurable business performance improvements for the network members. These objectives include:

• Sectoral/sub-sectoral Development Initiatives
• Supply-Chain Optimisation
• Developing Scale of Operations/Realising Economies of Scale
• Exploring Export Market Opportunities
• Virtual Networks
• Projects that are not listed but will lead to increased economic performance (i.e. sales, exports, employment, productivity, competitiveness) in participating companies.

All projects that are submitted will therefore be considered however to ensure that the projects achieve value for money the following criteria apply.

Eligible Projects must involve activities that are additional to what is currently being carried out by the network and the individual companies.

The Pilot is designed to complement existing State supports for Enterprise Development and only projects that are not suitable for existing supports will be considered for the pilot. (Note: Networks for training are currently supported through Skillnets and there are also a number of supports available for Industry-led Research and Development collaboration. (Research & Innovate, skillnets.com)

Eligible Projects must seek to address joint company development and/or national economic development objectives, and have the potential to lead to measurable improvements in the business performance of participant members.

Eligible Projects will be time-limited and must have clear objectives and a detailed work plan. The maximum length of time of collaborative projects will be 24 months.

How were projects evaluated?

All projects that meet the eligibility criteria were evaluated against a range of headings and 10 projects will be selected for support. The criteria for evaluation included:

• The business/economic case for carrying out the project including justification of the network's need for financial assistance to support the project
• The expected impact of the proposed project on the participant companies' competitive position.
• The ability of the project to achieve measurable economic improvements/benefits to the participant companies in terms of regional/social/sectoral development, sales, exports, employment, productivity, competitiveness.
• How these benefits are additional to what is achievable through existing enterprise supports currently funded by the State.
• Evidence that the project is additional to the existing activities of the network and its members.
• Quality and feasibility of the proposed project.

ENDS