Three young Tipperary entrepreneurs are flying the Tipperary flag at the regional final of the inaugural ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ competition, which is offering an investment prize-fund of €2 million.
All under the age of 30 years, the local business owners and new start-ups are going head-to-head with other winners from Clare, Kerry and Limerick this coming Wednesday (12th November) for a chance to win a place at the national final in Dublin this December, in a competition co-ordinated by the Local Enterprise Office Tipperary.
Launched by the Government earlier this year, Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition is a core part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014, and is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through the 31 Local Enterprise Offices around the country.
The Tipperary winners, who have been selected to represent Tipperary at the ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ regional finals 2014.
Tom Ryan from Adsmart & TownSmart (Tipperary Best Young Entrepreneur and Best Start Up Business Category Winner).
Townsmart is a new add-on to Adsmart based in Nenagh and is a technology platform that will provide individual Micro & Small businesses with their own platform. Users can avail of professionally designed templates to create campaigns across print, digital, social and mobile media at a price they can afford.Chris Shanahan from Chris IT (Best Established Business With New Add On).
Chris Shanahan, is a young man who identified a niche in the market for unlocking mobile devices such as phones, ipads etc. He set up an on line business through which customers can apply to have their mobile devices unlocked. The venture attracts an International clientèle with customers located across the world.Philip Martin from Blanco Nino (Best New Idea).
Blanco Nino will produce corn based tortillas for the food service market. The products – soft corn tortillas, frying tortillas and uncooked chips will be manufactured using a traditional Mexican process and then frozen for sale into the food service market via a range of distributors targeting restaurants/cafes/Mexican eateries.
The three category winners from Wednesday’s (12th November) Regional Final will progress to the national stage of the competition, which will conclude with an awards ceremony on December 6th next.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton T.D. has stated: “Central to our plans for jobs and growth is supporting more businesses to start-up. Part of this plan is also fostering a stronger culture of entrepreneurship and promoting start-up business as a career option for young people. That is what is behind this new competition to find the best young entrepreneur in the region also ultimately Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur.”
Head of Enterprise with the Local Enterprise Office Tipperary, M/s Rita Guinan has stated: “Our winners are proudly ‘flying the flag’ for the county, competing against other young entrepreneurs in the region, for a place at the prestigious national final. But the benefits of entering the competition don’t end there. Throughout Ireland, over 400 finalists have already benefited from intensive business boot-camps and mentoring programmes at local level, so the impact of the IBYE programme will be seen for many years to come.”
Next Wednesday’s regional final takes place in The Castletroy Park Hotel from 6.30pm to 9.00pm and the Mayors and Cathaoirligh of all participating local authorities are being invited to attend, along with representatives of the business community. The awards host will be Cathy Halloran, RTE Mid West Correspondent and the event will feature a presentation by Paul Collins of Design Pro Ltd., National Enterprise Award Winner 2013.
For all the latest news and results for the ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ competition, visit www.ibye.ie, www.localenterprise.ie or search #ibye on social media.
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