GMIT Innovation Centre
Mayo Businesses to Benefit
By Judith Feehan
17, May 2013 - 09:21

Mayo Businesses to Benefit from the interactive Open Day at the GMIT Castlebar Innovation in Business Centre (IiBC)

On 5th June, an interactive Open Day at the Castlebar IiBC will feature a FREE seminar on How to Enter the U.S. Market, opportunities to talk to the local state enterprise support agencies, as well as sessions facilitated by IiBC clients focusing on attracting investment, setting-up an online business, aquaculture and reducing costs with lean solutions.

Innovation in Business Centre (IiBC) at the GMIT Castlebar will host an Interactive Open Day on Wednesday 5th June to encourage Mayo businesses to get better acquainted with IiBC supports and enable them to obtain some practical tips and advice on a variety of business subjects, ranging from export strategies for the U.S. market to attracting investment.

The Interactive Open day will kick-off at 9.30am with a talk from the award winning business woman Mary Rodgers, the CEO of Stateside Solutions (www.statesidesolutions.com) during which she will speak on the subject of "Strategies for Irish companies entering the U.S. market". This seminar is for all size companies interested in making the transition into the U.S. market place in a cost effective and efficient manner. Mary will be explaining the different options including direct sales, setting up an entity, distributor and partnering. She will also explain the advantages and disadvantages of each of the routes to market and discuss the various considerations including budgets, margins and timelines.

Mary has worked with clients from Enterprise Ireland, Invest NI, and IE Singapore and runs the U.S. market entry programmes. A graduate of NUI and the GMIT, the Irish Voice nominated Mary as one of America's most influential women. According to Mary: "You can never be too prepared, companies need to take the time to understand both the opportunities and the cost of doing business in the U.S. Planning will lead to increased efficiency and a faster ROI".

This will be followed by the IiBC client Alan Dowling, MD of Visual Brand Communication (www.vbc.ie) speaking on ‘How to Attract Investment' at 12pm. Where do I start? How do I find an investor? Do I need a solicitor? These are just a few of the questions this Interactive session will address.

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IiBC client Fergal Guilfoyle, the founder of Shellfish Trader (www.shellfishtrader.com) and Director at Treanberg Marine Consulting, will talk about the requirements for setting up an aquaculture business, including the licensing, equipment and skills needed at 3pm.

In the last Interactive session of the day at 4pm, Tony Hegarty, the founder of Ordú (www.ordu.ie), a company utilising Lean Sigma methodologies and providing bespoke Industry application developments will demonstrate how to reduce cost in business with lean solutions resulting in a competitive edge to the business.

There will also be an opportunity to speak with the local enterprise support agencies including WESTBIC (www.westbic.ie), Enterprise Ireland (www.enterprise-ireland.ie), South West Mayo Development Company (www.southmayo.com) , Mayo County Enterprise Board (www.mayoceb.com) , Údarás na Gaeltachta (www.udaras.ie ) and Mayo Ideas Lab (www.westbic.ie/mayoideaslab.html). There will also be opportunities to engage with the IiBC clients in an informal way and to view their products and services.

Helena Deane, the Manager of the IiBC Castlebar stated: "This is the first time we are hosting an interactive Open Day and we hope to motivate the Mayo businesses to visit the Centre and learn about the supports IiBC has to offer". If you would like to avail of any of the FREE Interactive sessions offered as part of the Open Day, please register your interest at: www.iibcopenday.eventbrite.ie For more information please contact iibccastlebar@gmit.ie.

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