OCEANABOOST TAKE FIRST CLON’TREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD

 Fifth Year students win entrepreneurial award

The entrepreneurial spirit of Ireland’s youth shone bright at the inaugural Clon’trepreneur of the year awards at Fernhill House Hotel in Clonakilty on Thursday last (24 May 2012), as three fifth year students from Clonakilty Community College picked up the prestigious award for their innovative Oceanaboost product, which is a tasty and nutritional drink extracted from seaweed. 

The event, which was hosted by George Hook, was organised by Clonakilty Chamber of Commerce in association with West Cork’s top businesses to boost entrepreneurial spirit in the region.

Students Barry Holland, Declan Moore and David Ryan, creators of Oceanaboost, were overwhelmed by the positive feedback from West Cork business warhorses, Colette Twomey of Clonakilty Black Pudding, Diarmuid O’Sullivan of Irish Yogurts, Eugene Scally of Scally’s SuperValu and social media guru and philanthropist Bill Liao, who said their product had the best potential to create and sustain employment in the West Cork area.  

Commenting on behalf of the three, Barry Holland said, “We are so proud to win such a prominent award and to have the opportunity to develop a concept with the support of West Cork’s leading entrepreneurs.  Our generation in particular needs to pave our own path to build a sustainable future and these initiatives give us the support and confidence to do so.”

Oceanaboost competed against three other competitors, Irish Atlantic Sea Salt, Clonakilty Cocoa Company and Richy Virahsawmy at a Dragon’s Den style public event for a €20,000 cash and support package.  Each of the contestants made a 7 minute pitch to the ‘warhorse’ judges before being questioned in-depth on their products, marketing strategies, logistics and finances.

George Hook kindly offered each of the finalists 12 minutes on his Kickstart Your Business slot on Newstalk where they can showcase their products on the national airwaves.

“This is a very special night for Clonakilty Chamber of Commerce,” said Flor McCarthy the Chamber’s chairman. “We have seen industry names from the region come together to drive entrepreneurial spirit, innovative business ideas from locals and those further afield that will drive our economy, and creativity merged with a drive for business from our youth.”

Mairead O’Gorman of AIB, the project manager of the event, said, “This is the start of bigger things to come” as she closed the proceedings on a balmy West Cork evening.

Grand Prize Award

Attention all Chamber Members,

You are all invited to the long awaited:

Easter Promotion Grand Prize Giving

O’Donovan’s Hotel

Friday 1^st June 7:00pm

Wine and Nibbles

And Mighty Craic

With MC Jimmy Hayes

--  Philip Newton

Final Event on Thursday

Clon’trepreneur, the event, is upon us this Thursday evening and the finalists are:

·         Irish Atlantic Salt Ltd-  Michael O’Neill, Aileen O’Neill & Tim Houstoun.  Michael is a graduate of UL (Electronic Engineering) has many years experience in shellfish and wet fish sales.  Aileen has 20 years accounts and retail experience and handles general day to day operations administration and accounts for the company. Tim is currently EFO Global Shares Ltd based in Clonakilty Technology Park.

·         OceanaBoost -Declan Moore, David Ryan & Barry Holland are three fifth year students at Clonakilty Community College and have already proven themselves to be innovative and successful.  They were the winning team at BT young Scientist 2011 & 2012 and they were National Winners of Agri Aware Green Dragon Innovation Challenge 2011.

·         Richy Virahsawmy- Chef for 20 years, owns and runs well known popular restaurant ‘Richy’s Bar & Bistro’ which recently celebrated it’s 10th Anniversary. Richy’s wife Johanna looks after the books for the business and will also be involved in this new project. Richy has shown enthusiasim and commitment to Clonakilty.  He has adapted to tough times with new ideas and has created jobs.

·         The Clonakilty Cocoa Company - Steve Clery, Tara Deasy & Owen Clery.  Steve Clery is proprietor of local Café Betty Brosnans, his brother Owen is a mature student studying graphic design in CIT and Tara Deasy works with Steve at Betty Brosnans and on the family farm in Milltown.

As you know George Hook is our special guest and will be the MC for what really will be a special evening for Clonakilty.

Many hours of dedication and effort has been put in by the Clon’trepreneur Team, to bring about this project for the Chamber.  We hope that all members will support their wonderful efforts by coming along and enjoying the evening’s entertainment.  While we expect that there will be tickets at the door, we really would like to get a good idea of our attendance numbers.

Accordingly, I would ask that you contact me at this email or phone Tel: 8858910 or (M) 086-8747558 to book your tickets.  The tickets are also on sale at Richy’s, Betty Brosnans and Tommy O’Donovans and are 10 Euros each.

Looking forward to seeing you on the night.

--- Mick Hanley

Networking Event on Thursday

Our next Networking event will take place this Thursday 24^th  at 9am in the Courtyard Bar, Hartes Courtyard, Clonakilty.

The attendance numbers have been fantastic, & we encourage you all to keep attending and promote new attendances / members were you can. If you can’t attend, please consider sending a member of staff in your stead to ensure your interests are continually represented. In addition, if anyone would like to make a short announcement (business promotion or Chamber related event) please notify me at the start, so that we can prepare timing  / order for the announcements. 

Also if anyone has any ideas to strengthen the event, please let us know. Useful information / presentations on business promotion, accounting or social media could be a consideration for attending business.

Below is a list of the proposed upcoming dates / locations for future events (to be finalized by participating venues). All times are 9:00 am:

The Courtyard Bar:  Thursday 24^th May 
The Emmet Hotel:  Thursday 14^th June 
An Sugan:  Thursday 5^th July
Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa:  Thursday 26^th July 
Celtic Ross:  Thursday 16^th August  
Lisselan Estate:  Thursday 6^th September 
The Winery:  Thursday 27^th September 
Bean & Leaf:  Thursday 18^th October 

--  Stephen Spill, Events

Networking Event 24 June

Clonakilty Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that our next Networking event will take place next Thursday 24^th  at 9 am in the Courtyard Bar, Hartes Courtyard, Clonakilty. We would like to continue to build  on the fantastic turnouts of past  events and would encourage all members / sectors and non members to attend. 

Our key goal is to build a active and inclusive business community, so that we all can remain  focused and aware of what Clonakilty businesses haves to offer in respect of services and products on a ongoing basis. Anyone who may be interesting in joining Clonakilty Chamber is also welcome and encouraged to come along to find out what is involved, meet some of our members and learn more about what we do.

Note: Should you wish to make a short announcement (business promotion or Chamber related) please notify me at the start, so that we can prepare timing for the announcements.

Kind Regards All

--  Stephen Smith

Large Crowds Expected for National Flower Festival in Clonakilty

The National Flower Festival will be held in Clonakilty from 22nd to 24th June this year. (A.O.I.F.A – Association of Irish Floral Artists)

The Opening Night is in the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Friday 22nd June, at 7.30pm followed by a reception in a marquee in Kennedy Gardens.

On Saturday 23rd June the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the Church of Ireland, Kilgarriffe and the Methodist Church on Kent Street will host over 200 floral exhibitions.

A Concert is planned in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, at 8.30pm, and promises to be one of the highlights of the event.

On Sunday 24th June from 12.30pm – 5.30pm the 3 Churches are open for the floral exhibitions. The Closing ceremony will be held in the Church of Ireland that evening.

27 coaches of visitors have now been confirmed for the weekend during the National Flower Festival.  We would encourage you if at all possible to open your premises on Sunday 24th June as large crowds are expected in Clonakilty.

---- Karen Buchanan, karen@lisselan.com, On behalf of Lisselan Estate

 

CLON'TREPRENEUR 2012 - THE EVENT

The Entries are In!

The Short-listing has started!

The Time for the Grand Finale has arrived when you can get the opportunity to see the best of the best pitch their ideas to local warhorses in an effort to win the coveted prize worth €20,000.  The event will be hosted by TV & Radio Broadcaster George Hook and will take place as follows:

In:     Fernhill House Hotel

On:   Thursday Night the 24^th May 2012

At:     8.00 p.m.

The Night promises to offer high drama and intrigue as the four final entrepreneurs try to convince local well established and highly successful business people that their idea is the one worthy of support, and has the potential to create further employment in the Clonakilty area.

Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Marine and Food said when launching the initiative recently that “Clon'trepreneur is a fantastic initiative that was established to leverage the vast amount of local resources available in Clonakilty.  This is the way forward for communities throughout Ireland – more initiatives need to be developed to support local entrepreneurs at local level.”

We have also invited students from local secondary schools the opportunity to showcase their ideas to the local business community and ensure we encourage ongoing innovation.

Don’t miss out on this unique event.

Book your Tickets now for €10 by contacting Mick Hanly at chamber@clonakilty.ie or 023-8858910

Tickets are also on sale at the desk in O’Donovan’s Hotel.

The CLON’TREPRENEUR Team

Jungle City Update

There's a rumour going around that Clon is shortly going to be home to an exotic trail of jungle animals...

If you heard it, you heard the truth and we are writing to make sure that each member of the Chamber of Commerce has had a proper opportunity to be involved.

The Concept

The concept is called 'Jungle City' and will see 24 brightly painted animal sculptures installed in every nook and cranny around the town. The sculptures will serve as a free, all weather visitor attraction for Clonakilty. This is a family friendly concept that children absolutely love! 

The sculptures will be beautifully decorated by local and international artists and will lead visitors on a trail through the town. 

The concept was piloted during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, where one location recorded a 66% increase in visitors. 

There are all kinds of fun elements to this concept which include a pop-up shop where blank miniature animals can be decorated by families, safari trails, route maps, and talking animals via a downloadable app that will really bring it to life.

Previous Events

Jungle City was created by animal conservation charity 'Elephant Family' - the charity that was behind the elephants at Inchydoney in 2008. Since 2008 the charity has launched similar painted sculpture events in London, Edinburgh and next year, New York. This is a chance for Clonakilty to represent Ireland as part of a global concept and unlike other events, Clonakilty gets to keep the sculptures for as long as they want.

http://www.thesurvivaltour.org/

http://www.elephantparadelondon.org/

http://www.jungle-city.org/ (soon to be populated with Clonakilty!)

Supporters

Backers include the Town Council, the Chamber of Commerce, Cork County Council and Sustainable Clonakilty. With the majority of funding coming from The West Cork Development Partnership. Each sculpture will be 'adopted by a local business who will benefit from being included in the route map and having a highly charismatic sculpture to represent them in Clonakilty. The press are already biting with more than 5 local and national press articles - and that's before the animals have even arrived! Broadcast, print and media coverage will ramp up once the sculptures arrive.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship ranges from €600 to €1,500 and there is also one special sculpture available on a group share €100. If you like this idea and are curious to hear more please get in touch. The sculptures are going on a first come, first serve basis and half have been snapped up already.

Launch Date and Thank You

The sculptures are due to arrive in Clon on May 18th where they will be sent to their artist for decoration. The event goes live on Friday June 29th. All of the animals in the exhibition share one thing in common; they are endangered, so by hosting this event Clonakilty will not only have a major attraction but the town will also be doing something incredibly positive to help raise awareness for endangered animals. All proceeds from the purchase of the sculptures goes to the Elephant Family charity to continue their work. 

Thank you Clonakilty!

PLEASE EMAIL:

Mary.Powys@elephantfamily.org

ddills@hotmail.co.uk

Best Wishes,

Mary Powys and Derek Dillon

Jungle City Project Managers

Mary:  087 257 9869

Derek: 087 927 4166

Elephant Family | 0207 251 5099  | www.elephantfamily.org 17-18 Haywards Place, London, EC1R0EQ

Alternative Energy Info Day

INVITE TO ALL CHAMBER MEMBERS

Venue:   Hosfords Garden Centre, 12 am till 5 pm

We are delighted to attach our Programme for Sunday 13^th May 2012

Featuring-

Alternative Energy from West Cork

-  ProgressiveSolar;  Solar heating systems  for domestic hot water and central heating support.

-  Generating electricity through solar.

-  Heat recovery systems.

-  Heat pumps from alternative heating and cooling

    No more oil or gas EVER!

-  Clonakilty  Tool Hire  with a selection of garden machinery.

-  Jamie grant   TALKING on rain water harvesting and water filtration

-  Piano Recital 2.00pm Carol Arnopp

-  Watercolour Demonstration-Barry Dawkes -3.00pm

    Composting Awareness-Cork County Council

+ + + Fabulous plants grown fresh here on our own Nursery.

Sign up to our Blog on www.hosfordsgardencentre.blogspot.com

250 Cruisers Visiting on Saturday

 Below, please see information email received by Flor McCarthy notifying us of 6 coaches arriving into town this Saturday morning, the 12^th at 10.15am.  

--   Mick Hanly

******

Hello Flor

I am writing to advise that we will have 6 coaches with approx 250 persons on board visit Clonakilty on Saturday morning, May 12^th.

The coaches are due to arrive at 10:15am and after coffee in various locations, the guests will have about 1 hour’s free time.

All guests are visiting from the Quest for Adventure cruise ship which will be docked in Ringaskiddy.  They are on a 1 day call to Cork.

I would appreciate if you could advise all retail stores of the group’s arrival so they are all open and ready for business.

Many thanks.

Kind regards,

Fran Morgan (Ms.)

Managing Director

 

Clon in the Irish Times

You may also be interested in this great pitch on Clon in the Times, by Chamber member Michael McCarthy:-

It really is a super piece (link) and an extract is below:

There was a great buzz around the town today for the launch of Clonakilty Favour Exchange. It’s a grass roots concept where members can exchange labour and skills without exchanging money. Instead you add to or draw from a time bank, with strict credit and debit limits. The flyers tell me that “ The only requirement for membership is goodwill” It says a lot about the town where I live.

Clonakilty has a long record of generating goodwill projects. It was the first Fairtrade Town in Ireland. Its Sustainable Clonakilty organisation aims to have the area energy independent by 2020 and its myriad of festivals depend on the goodwill of their organisers. All voluntary, ground up initiatives.

 Goodwill is something that’s abundant in this little corner of Ireland. People you don’t know will salute you going down the street because they might have seen you before. Strangers will stop you on the street to tell you the latest sporting success for the town, to talk about the weather, or nothing in particular.

You know when you go somewhere, you can get a good sense for the place in the first few minutes? Here, there is an easy welcoming feeling that makes you want to stay. And stay people have. There is an eclectic mix of the new, outside influence (including my wife and I) alongside the local and traditional. It creates a sense grounded creativity and energy that’s warm and inviting. You can’t quantify it or describe it, you have to feel it...

Read the full article linked here.

Deadline: Clon’Trepreneur of the Year 2012

Just a final reminder to all those budding moguls out there that the closing date for applications to our Clon’Trepreneur of the Year 2012 competition is this coming Friday the 11^th May 2012.

We have already received a number of applications with a very broad range of business ideas.  Don’t be fraught with indecision and then regret not having put in your idea.  If you have an idea or know someone with a good idea, do send it into us.  The application form can be downloaded in .PDF format from the www.clonakilty.ie website or I can email  a Microsoft Word version on request.

Cork Chamber Quashes Toll Concerns

 

PRESS RELEASE

9 May 2012

Chamber Quashes Toll Concerns 

Cork Chamber Chief Executive Conor Healy today quashed concerns that tolling would be introduced on the Jack Lynch Tunnel (JLT) following the National Roads Authority (NRA) advice to Cork City Council that combining the operation and maintenance of the JLT and the Dublin Port Tunnel into a single private contract would bring efficiencies and cost savings. 

Mr. Healy said, “Cork Chamber welcomes any moves by the NRA to introduce cost savings and efficiencies and if privatisation of the JLT delivers this for the taxpayer, it is to be welcomed. The Chamber is not at all concerned that privatisation will lead to tolls in light of the firm announcement made by Minister Varadkar in January that tolls will not be applied to the JLT. Ultimately, the NRA has to take policy direction from the Minister with regards to any such decision and the Chamber is confident that following the intensive lobbying campaign of the Minister and other stakeholders it pursued over 2011, that this is not a reality and based purely on speculation”.

“Clearly should the management of the JLT be outsourced, a consultation with stakeholders regarding timing of maintenance works would need to continue to ensure that trading activities are not adversely impacted”, added Mr. Healy.

“A comprehensive integrated transport survey of the Chamber’s 1000 members, employing 95,000 in the Cork region carried out in 2011, showed that 68,000 drivers would be penalized every day and congestion chaos would ensue throughout Cork City and its suburbs on a daily basis if a toll on the JLT were to be introduced. The cost of the additional congestion and delay was estimated by the Chamber to be in the order of up to 4 times the revenues generated by any JLT toll. Based on this robust evidence based data presented by the Chamber to decision makers, we are assured that the Minister and elected representatives from the Cork region are fully aware of the negative effects such a blunt instrument would result in for the region”, concluded Mr. Healy. 

Ends

For further information please contact:

Conor Healy, Chief Executive, Cork Chamber, tel (021) 4509044/ (087) 9471858 
Alma Murnane, Policy & Research Manager, Cork Chamber, tel (021) 4509044/ (087) 7972839

The Pig Turns

Dear Chamber Member,

Following a personal inspection, I can confirm that the pig is being griddled as we speak.  However given its girth, it will take a bit longer to cook so it’ll be about 7.15pm before it ready for plating. I still have tickets to spare and will have them with me this evening.  I’ll swap them for money!!  I’m out of the office for the rest of the day, but I can be contacted at 086-8747558.

I’ve also received the following request for some photos from Irene in the Quality Hotel, which someone may be able help out with.  If you can oblige, please reply direct to Irene at iocallaghan@qualityhotels.ie

---  Mick Hanly

------------------------------------------------------

Hi Mick,

I don’t know if you are the right person to contact but I have a query which you might be able to help me out with.  We need a picture of a local watersport or beach but as this picture will be reproduced in the Choice hotel directory and distributed worldwide, we need to ensure that we have full permission to use it and that there is no copyright issue.  Do you have any other picture on file that we could use or contact the owners for permission?  It would need to be high resolution ( at least 2mb)

Any help would be appreciated!

---  Irene O'Callaghan, Sales & Marketing Manager

Quality Hotel & Leisure Club, Clonakilty, West Cork.

Tel. +353 (0)23 88 36400, Fax. +353 (0)23 88 35404

https:// www.qualityhotelclonakilty.ie