Minister Lenihan announces series of regional workshops for new businesses

The Government is to target small business-owners, entrepreneurs and inventors with a series of workshops offering advice on how to turn ideas into new enterprises, according to the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan TD.

The free knowledge-sharing seminars, ‘Building a Business on Your Ideas’, will examine how exploit business opportunities through Government supports.

Intellectual property - patents, trade marks, designs and copyright - will be a central theme for discussion at the seminars.

The first seminar will be held in Donegal later this month.

The seminars, which will run for nine months in towns and cities across the country, are organised by the Patents Office in co-operation with the Enterprise Europe Network, Enterprise Ireland and the County Enterprise Boards.

Speakers will include experts from the public and private sectors and local entrepreneurs.

Announcing the seminars, Minister Lenihan said: ‘Small businesses are the bedrock of the indigenous economy, employing 700,000 workers out a total labour force of 1.9 million.

‘These enterprises account for some 270,000, or 90pc, of all businesses here so it is vital that we support them in every possible way.

‘The seminars will be important learning workshops for small business-owners, entrepreneurs and inventors who want to scale their businesses or turn their ideas into functioning enterprises.

‘The Government’s enterprise policy is to promote a pro-business environment and to support businesses through targeted help from the enterprise agencies.

‘Sharing knowledge and expertise across the regions will strengthen already established businesses and generate new ones.’

See patentsoffice.ie for details.

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Bernard Mallee, Press Adviser to Minister Batt O'Keeffe, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Tel: +353 1 631 3944, Mobile: +353 87 9173022, Email: bernard.mallee@deti.ie