Mayo’s largest business event officially launched

Mayo’s largest business event officially launched


Neill O’Neill

ONE of the largest and most eagerly anticipated business events in the region in 2013 was officially launched last week, when MeetWest 2013 was declared open for business by Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Johnno O’Malley.
To be held in Knockranny House Hotel in Westport on November 21 and 22, the event is designed to give individuals and companies an opportunity to network, establish relationships, make new contacts and ultimately grow their business.
The event is being organised by the Mayo Enterprise and Investment Unit in conjunction with other agencies, and aims to build on the success of previous events held in Galway and Athlone.
This year’s event also sees some new initiatives, including group meetings for small to medium enterprises with larger organisations, and a limited number of pop-up exhibition spaces for early registrations.
Speaking at the well-attended launch in Mayo County Council’s on-site Regional Training Centre at their Castlebar headquarters, Mayo County Manager, Mr Peter Hynes, emphasised the significance of MeetWest in aiding businesses to grow at regional level.  
Inviting companies from across the province and further afield to attend, Mr Hynes described the event as an opportunity for the region’s enterprises to consolidate and do business, on a platform from which world class businesses can grow in the west of Ireland.
There was a special video message shown at the launch from An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who will give a keynote dinner address on the first day of the event in November. Mr Kenny said MeetWest aligns perfectly with the Government’s strategy of ‘growing from the ground up’, and wished the event and the organisers well.
CEO of Mayo County Council’s Enterprise and Investment Unit, Joanne Grehan, outlined her belief that this year’s MeetWest event will be the largest to date.
“I am confident that the businesses of Mayo and the western region will gain a real benefit from attending this year’s event,” she stated, adding that MeetWest was about ‘regional collaboration and getting beyond the parochial to the critical mass that exists out there.’
She added that Mayo County Enterprise Board and Investment Unit have learnt greatly from their counterparts in Galway and Roscommon in relation to the event, and thanked all their other partners on the project; Mayo, Galway and Roscommon County Councils; Galway City Council; the Enterprise Boards in Galway City and County and Roscommon; the Western Development Commission; the IDA; Enterprise Ireland; Údaras na Gaeltachta; Westport Chamber of Commerce and their national media partners - Newstalk 106-108FM.
Also speaking at the event, Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Johno O’Malley, called the MeetWest initiative an exciting opportunity for Mayo companies to network with other businesses within the western region and beyond.
“Creating jobs is the way forward for everybody and we need to create jobs, no matter if they are in big or small companies,” he said, thanking Joanne Grehan and her team for all the hard work they have put into organising MeetWest.

Conference
Day one of the event will have a conference element, the theme of which ‘Growing World Class Business from the West of Ireland’ will be chaired by RTE presenter and former news reader Ann Doyle. Local guest speakers at the MeetWest conference include: Tommy Griffith, CEO, PEL Waste Reduction Equipment in Balla; Aiden Corcoran, CEO of Westport-based engineering firm, Horizon; Martin O’Hara, Director, O’Hara’s of Foxford Ltd and Pat O’Donnell, Vice President and Managing Director, Allergan Ireland.
Day two will feature a series of pre-arranged one to one business network meetings, where participating delegates will have the opportunity to request which speaker they wish to meet on the day, by submitting their company details when they register prior to the event. PΡdraic ÓMΡille, creator of SmΡcht, will also address the delegates on the second morning of the conference.
A former participant at MeetWest, Damien Cashin from Castlebar company, Cashin Print, explained how he attended both previous conferences, and spoke of the ‘great positives’ and of how both the formal and social elements of the event were highly beneficial to his business.

Further details can be found at www.meetwest.ie by contacting Sheila Byrnes on 091 777111 or by emailing: info@meetwest.ie
Persons interested in attending are urged to register their interest quickly, as spaces are limited and filling fast.