The ‘Biggest-ever’ National Women’s Enterprise Day set for October, as figures show over 22,000 female entrepreneurs received support last year.
– 17 Local Enterprise Office events on October 17th will celebrate female-led businesses in Ireland
-Event for female entrepreneurs in Wicklow is taking place in Ballyknocken House and Cookery School
-New figures: 22,000 female entrepreneurs took part in LEO training programmes in 2018
-4,500 female entrepreneurs benefited from business mentoring in 2018
‘Making It Happen’ theme for 2019, to help more women start and grow their own business The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, T.D., has launched the
biggest-ever programme of events to mark National Women’s Enterprise Day (NWED) on Thursday, October 17th .
Local Enterprise Offices are organising 17 entrepreneurial events across the country under the theme of ‘Making It Happen’, funded by the Government of Ireland in partnership with Enterprise Ireland and Local Authorities.
To mark National Women’s Enterprise Day, Local Enterprise Office Wicklow is organising an event in Ballyknocken House and Cookery School in partnership with Local Enterprise Office Wicklow.
Expected highlights include networking while attendees participate in a cookery class, followed by a presentation by the local NWED Ambassador for 2019, Catherine Fulvio, Day-time Emmy nominee, award winning author, noted TV chef and innovative business woman.
Figures released by Local Enterprise Offices to coincide with the launch reveal that 21, 859 female participants took part in training programmes with their LEO in 2018, an increase of 18% on 2017 figures. There was also a big increase in the number of female entrepreneurs benefiting from business mentoring through their Local Enterprise Office last year – from 3,832 in 2017 up to 4,565 in 2018 (up b 19%).
On October 17 th , NWED Ambassadors will be sharing their success stories at events in Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Sligo, Waterford, Wexford, and Wicklow.
Heather Humphreys T.D., Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation said: “I am delighted to announce the biggest ever programme of events for National Women’s Enterprise Day, which will take place at 17 events around the country on Thursday, October 17th. Ireland has some of the world’s finest women in business. We want to showcase their wonderful work to encourage more women to get into business.
Supporting and fostering female entrepreneurship is a priority in Future Jobs Ireland, our whole-of-Government plan to prepare our businesses and workers for the future. Last year, the LEOs provided training to 22,000 female entrepreneurs but we want to see these numbers grow even more.”
Vibeke Delahunt, Head of Enterprise at the Local Enterprise Office Wicklow said:
“The theme for this year’s National Women’s Enterprise Day on October 17 th is ‘Making It Happen’ and we want to highlight all the supports that can ‘make it happen’ for women in Wicklow that want to start or grow their business over the next year.”
She continued: “It’s great to see that nearly 40% of new business owners in Ireland are women, showing that the gender gap is narrowing according to the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report**.
Through the 31 Local Enterprise Offices, we saw a higher take-up of supports by female entrepreneurs last year – from those that were looking to start a new business venture by themselves to those that wanted to grow an existing family business.”
For more information on National Women’s Enterprise Day and to find out how to book tickets at events nationwide, go to www.LocalEnterprise.ie/nwed or search #NWED on social media.
