Annual Report 2010 Publisher full - Offaly County Council

Offaly Innovation Centre and Design Hub
The Innovation Centre is operating on the Ground Floor of Offaly
County Council. It is currently home to Design Hub. This is a group
of young product, web and interior designers that work on their own
and new innovative products and businesses. The purpose of the Innovation
Centre is to lend space to young business people. This
space affords users the time to explore their business models and
encourages the development of new companies in Offaly. Ultimately
this encourages entrepreneurship and generates employment. An
Taoiseach Brian Cowen also launched the Offaly Innovation Centre
and attended the launch of Design Week.
Doing Business in Offaly Guide
One of the initiatives proposed through our SPC was the development
of a guide to doing Business in Offaly. The purpose of the guide
is to provide an overview of services, supports and infrastructure
available in County Offaly. It also takes people through costs associated
with doing business and the process required. The contents of
the guide includes
• Overview of Doing Business in Offaly
• Location and profile
• Energy Resources
• Water services
• Transport and accessibility
• National roads network
• Health Services
• Costs and supports available
Within Offaly we were fortunate enough (and timely) that a group of
young designers (digital, product, industrial, interior and furniture)
were seeking a space to facilitate the development of their concept
Design Hub. Design Hub is a studio space where designers, people
with ideas, businesses and local manufacturers can collaborate to
develop new products and ideas and help them to a successful conclusion.
This project has been very successful so far in assisting
young people to start their business, support others to develop their
concepts and finally promote Offaly as a research design County.
Offaly Tourism
The Economic Development Officer sits on the Offaly Tourism Interagency
Group. The group consists of representation from Offaly
County Council, Offaly County Enterprise Board, Failte Ireland, Shannon
Development and Offaly Local Development Company. This
group holds the remit of promoting Offaly’s tourism product. In the
past year Offaly Tourism has published two guides for distribution:
• Offaly: Your guide to staying in Offaly
• Offaly: at your leisure – promotional guide to tourist attractions
in Offaly
The Interagency Group also hosted a very successful networking
event for stakeholders in the County linking accommodation providers
with activity providers. The group has also recently completed it’s
Action Plan for 2011.
Page 29 | Offaly County Council Annual Report 2010