ENTERPRISE BOARDS ENCOURAGE MORE WOMEN TO SET UP BUSINESSES

The organisers of National Women’s Enterprise Day on November 20th are encouraging more women to think about setting up a business.

The network of County and City Enterprise Boards, which includes the Dublin City Enterprise Board, supported over 12,000 women in business in 2008 alone, through various training programmes, networks, mentoring clinics and grant supports.
However, according to the GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) report for Ireland in 2008, more men were involved in early stage entrepreneurial activity than women.
Compiled by Paula Fitzsimons, National GEM Co-Ordinator and Chairperson of the National Women’s Enterprise Day Conference, and Dr. Colm O Gorman, Professor of Entrepreneurship in DCU,  the report showed that in 2008, a man was almost three times more likely to be involved in entrepreneurial activity than was a woman.
According to Greg Swift, Chief Executive Officer with the Dublin City Enterprise Board, one of the main roles of the Enterprise Boards is to support more female entrepreneurs:  “We want to encourage more women to take the entrepreneurial route and start their own business. National Women’s Enterprise Day on November 20th is a very effective way for women to find out what enterprise supports are available to them. They can also seek expert advice from mentors and they can take advantage of the networking opportunities on offer.”
Co-funded by the European Social Fund and the Irish Exchequer, the aim of National Women’s Enterprise Day is to give national recognition to the role of female entrepreneurship. The keynote speakers at the conference in Mullingar on November 20th include the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms. Mary Coughlan T.D., Jo Fairley, co-founder of Green and Black’s Organic Chocolate, Social Media Author, Krishna De and Rita Shah from Shabra Plastics in Monaghan.
Tickets for the National Women’s Enterprise Day Conference at the Mullingar Park Hotel on November 20th cost €100 and are available to buy through www.nwed.ie. Updates on the National Women’s Enterprise Day are also available from the NWED Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/nwedireland and from Twitter updates, www.twitter.com/nwed
Photo: Ann Kelsey, Econatural.com who will feature as a Case Study at the event.

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