Frank O’Keeffe, partner-in-charge of the programme said: “Despite the numerous difficulties faced by our island’s economies and business in recent years, Ireland is trying hard to show the first real shoots of recovery. Fuelled by an unparalleled level of dedication and commitment, it is our entrepreneurs who are the true trailblazers and champions who will reignite our economy. Ireland’s entrepreneurs continue to push the boundaries of possibility and deliver a brighter future for all.”

Entries for the 2012 Entrepreneur Of The Year can be made in any one of three categories – Emerging, Industry, and International. A nominee must be an owner-manager who is primarily responsible for the recent performance of a company that is at least two years old. Founders of public companies are eligible provided the founder is still active in management, and anyone can nominate an entrepreneur, including the entrepreneur himself or herself, employees or company advisors.

A panel of judges, chaired by Padraig O’Ceidigh, chairman Aer Arann and recipient of the award in 2002, will select the shortlist, to be announced in May. 

Entry forms are available on http://www.eoy.tv or by contacting Ernst & Young on 01 221 2250.

The closing date for nominations is 30 March 2012.

Following the announcement of 24 finalists from across the island in May, those short-listed will travel on a CEO retreat to Silicon Valley where they will avail of the chance to further enhance and develop their entrepreneurial skills, increase their business network, share their commercial experiences with local entrepreneurs, and develop lifelong peer relationships with others in the Entrepreneur Of The Year community along the way.

In October 2012, all finalists, their guests and other luminaries of the entrepreneurial community will gather at a celebratory Entrepreneur Of The Year banquet that will be broadcast to a worldwide audience via RTE Television and online. Here, their stories and achievements will be acclaimed, culminating in the announcement of three individual category winners in addition to that of the overall recipient of the 2012 Entrepreneur Of The Year accolade.

The overall winner will then go forward to represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year finals in 2013, where he or she will compete with over 55 country winners for this prestigious global title. Most recent winners of the overall award here in Ireland, Joe Hogan – chief technology officer, and Niall Norton – chief executive officer, of Openet, were presented with their 2011 Entrepreneur Of The Year™ accolade by former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, last October.  Joe and Niall will now go forward to represent Ireland at the 2012 World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Awards which will be held in Monte Carlo in June.

While belated it is welcome that a new set of laws designed to reform Ireland’s “arcane” bankruptcy laws has been passed at cabinet level.

The Personal Insolvency Bill, was launched earlier in the week, under which debtors will be allowed to emerge from bankruptcy after three years rather than the current 12.

The proposed Bill also includes new voluntary non-judicial debt settlement systems aimed at providing alternatives to formal court insolvency, such as the introduction of a personal insolvency arrangement for the agreed settlement of both unsecured and secured debt of more than E20,000.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said that “when enacted this legislation will be one of the key legislative instruments for addressing the financial difficulties of general insolvency; mortgage debt and negative equity,” he said.

A new not-for-profit scheme, Hireland.ie, is hoping to help facilitate the creation of 5,000 jobs in the first six months of this year in an initiative to encourage employers to hire now rather than putting it off.

Hireland wants to draw on the power of the collective and act as a catalyst to stimulate job creation. They want firms across the country to pledge a new opening in the company.

According to the founders, it’s about a positive, confident movement, where one job will lead to another if Irish businesses get on board and pledge a job.

Gerard O’Neill co-founder of Hireland said : “A sure way of future proofing your business is to hire more people. By recruiting more people into the business, a company will experience immediate and direct benefits.”

Ireland’s media industry has played its part and has given E500,000 worth of  advertising space to support the launch of the initiative. Hireland’s campaign includes newspaper, television, radio and outdoor advertising, as well as digital and PR activity.

An Enterprise Ireland Pilot Competitive Feasibility Fund worth E200,000 aimed at stimulating start ups and creating jobs in the South East, has been launched.

The closing date for applications is 30th January 2012, and it is expected that the first awards will be made shortly after that.

Funding of up to E25,000 will be provided to start-up companies with job-creating potential in the South East region. Companies in the ICT, industrial and food sectors based in Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny and South Tipperary will be eligible to apply.

The purpose of the Pilot Competitive Feasibility Fund for the South East Region is to accelerate the growth of start-up companies that have the capability to succeed in global markets.

A little later in the year is the Atlantic Conference 2012 on March 29^th.  The conference provides a forum for all those involved in education and enterprise to learn about the impact of Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM)  education in our economy and society.

In particular the conference provides a forum in which participants can benefit from international best practice and this year is no exception.

Speakers at this year’s conference include Ward van Duffel, managing director of LEGO Education Europe.

Leena Gade, Audi Sport’s chief Race Engineer is no stranger to problem solving and creative thinking. The Aerospace Engineering Graduate become the first female engineer in 2011 to have a car win the legendary Le Mans 24 Hour Race. She will be speaking at the conference about how an early love of engineering and cars led her to a career with Audi Sports and her master-minding her car’s win at one of the most gruelling races in the history of Le Mans..

The Conference Keynote Speaker is Carol Lynn Parente, executive producer of Sesame Street. Everyone’s favourite children’s show has a record 138 Emmy Awards and since 2011 it has focussed much of its educational work on creating a love of STEM subjects in young children.

www.eventelephant.com/atlanticconference2012

Services shrinking ↓

Ireland’s services sector shrank for the first time in a year in December as global economic turmoil undermined confidence and new orders fell sharply, a survey showed.

Foreign Investment ↑

The IDA landed a record number of foreign investments in Ireland (148) last year with a net gain of 6,000 jobs at IDA supported firms as exports surged, its year-end statement said.

Business Sentiment improves ↑

Ireland was the only EU State where business sentiment improved in the past year, the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report for 2012 showed. Over 70pc of Irish businesses expect profitability, revenue and selling prices to improve in the coming year but it will be a jobless recovery with just 15% of Irish companies expecting to increase employee numbers.

No Rises Expected ↓

The majority (58pc) of Irish professionals say they expect no pay rise this year, although 21pc predict that salaries will increase, albeit modestly, by approximately 1pc to 5pc.

Firms Collapse ↓

Nearly 170 companies collapsed every month in the first 11 months of 2011, owing near E1.2 billion in debt, according to the latest figures from VisionNet. It said that 1,930 Irish companies failed in the months from January to December – up 20pc on the same period a year earlier.

Manufacturing Down ↓

Irish manufacturing firms recorded a second straight fall in their operating conditions during December, the latest NCB Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed.

Sick Proposal ↓

Small and medium sized business lobby group, ISME, has slammed the Government for its “absurd” proposal to transfer responsibility for paying sick pay in the first month of illness from the Department of Social Protection to individual employers.

Back in May I wrote an article called Export figures flatter to deceive – well they don’t any more. The story said that while exports were doing well they were still behind levels last seen in 2002, pre boom.

But exports from Ireland are now greater than they were before the global recession, according to the industrial promotion body Enterprise Ireland.

In an end of year statement, it says record levels of exports have been achieved in 2011.

Despite the strong performance, it says that employment in export-driven companies rose only slightly this year.

The agency’s chief executive Frank Ryan said that Irish companies have proved “resilient and relentless” in seeking out new market opportunities.

However, he warned that 2012 would be a year of continuing challenges.

Business activity levels in Irish companies weakened slightly and employment fell further in the final three months of the year with the economy showing no signs of momentum, according to the latest KBC Bank Ireland/Chartered Accountants Ireland Business Sentiment Survey.

“The survey suggests Irish business conditions remain difficult as 2011 draws to a close,” said Mr John Hannaway, president, Chartered Accountants Ireland on its release. “A weaker global recovery and ongoing domestic budget austerity are restraining the spending and hiring plans of business. As a result, companies report their activity levels fell for a second successive quarter in late 2011 and they see only a marginal improvement in early 2012.”

Austin Hughes, chief economist, KBC Bank Ireland who prepared the survey noted that while companies report a slightly poorer outlook for their own businesses, they have become altogether more nervous about the outlook for the Irish economy as a whole. “This largely reflects the ongoing Euro crisis which is regarded as the key issue for 2012. The continuing inability of European policymakers to deliver a workable solution seems to be unnerving Irish business. Unfortunately, such concerns put spending and hiring plans for 2012 in jeopardy.”

Indeed, analysts from the Bank of America have said in that in the aftermath of a break-up, the new Irish punt would rise against other currencies, based on exchange rates last month.

That’s great if you are a buyer of foreign goods; not so good if you are selling abroad. Unfortunately for Ireland, her only hope of maintaining bailout repayments to the IMF and ECB lies in our very successful export sector. The demise of the euro is not in our interests.

Additionally, our export sector relies heavily on foreign companies based here that are enjoying our low corporate tax rate – something the new “fiscal compact” arranged last week by Merkel and Sarkozy seeks to remove.

So it’s a dilemma. We need the euro; we don’t need further fiscal integration. Sounds like a referendum is required.

The Bank of America research showed that Ireland is the most competitive of the big euro economies and that other major nations would face a devaluation against the dollar.

Italy would face 11pc devaluation, Spain, a 20pc drop, Portugal, a 17pc drop and France would face a 7pc cut in its value.

Should the euro cease to exist, only Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland, would face a situation where their currencies are under-valued and as such, would face an increase in their value against the dollar.

Economists say the main result of a chaotic break-up of the euro would not be the effect in currencies, but the financial crumbling of a large part of the European banking system and another great depression the likes of which the world has not seen for quite some time…

That’s a jump of 58pc on the same period in 2010, according to the data released at a recent William Fry breakfast briefing, ‘Raising Venture Capital’.

According to Shay Garvey of Delta Partners this is largely because businesses in the technology sector are demonstrating the greatest potential.

He said that, in the current economic climate, they have the ability to start-up at a relatively low cost, to quickly get their products to customers and make an early impact on the market.

“These are all factors that are attracting seed funding at an earlier stage than would previously have been seen, often higher volume but for smaller amounts when investors are prepared to take much more of a ‘try-it-and-see’ approach.”

Attendees also heard how, for companies who have a solid business plan with strong potential for export growth, there’s never been a better time to raise capital in Ireland.

Also speaking at the event were two further experts in funding high potential businesses – Andrew Hunter, Relationship Director, Silicon Valley Bank and Leo McAdams, Equity and Legal Department Manager, Enterprise Ireland.

One of the most significant sources for Irish companies for funding is Enterprise Ireland which, over the last 36 years, has provided E0.5bn to businesses that can demonstrate that the support will contribute to employment and economic growth in Ireland and that they need the funding.

Leo McAdams said that the volume of deals being done by Enterprise Ireland had doubled over the last two years and would reach 220 in 2011.

“Enterprise Ireland is actively involved in supporting high potential start-up projects and companies that have the capacity to break into export markets and grow quickly. Access to funding is a critical ingredient in the success of these companies. The seed funding environment has been transformed over the past two years. From a base of one fund with E30m under management in 2009, we now have four seed funds with E124m for seed capital investment. This represents an unprecedented level of funding for the key start-up / early stage segment of Irish business. In addition, through its network of 31 international offices, Enterprise Ireland actively supports Irish companies to grow their export markets and create valuable jobs in Ireland.”

Stephen Keogh, Partner at William Fry said that despite the global recession and Ireland’s challenging economic environment, funding options and support have been made available through various initiatives. “There are a number of sources of funding for early-stage companies – the most notable trend this year has been the emergence of the seed funds.”

So, InterTradeIreland has launched a new sales development scheme, Elevate, that provides eligible companies with support of up to E11,000 to access approved industry experts to help them identify new cross-border markets.

The programme was developed in response to research carried out by InterTradeIreland that revealed small businesses, which are not exporting, are hit hardest by the recession.

The programme will assist companies to become export ready and to explore opportunities in a new cross border market. It is hoped that companies will then develop their export capability outside of the Irish market, looking further afield to the UK and Europe.

“Our research shows that 54pc of businesses have been severely affected by the slump in domestic demand due to the economic downturn and that exporters are significantly outperforming those companies which are not dependent on their local market. In response to this, we developed the Elevate programme, in partnership with small firms, to encourage small businesses to look to new markets across the island which could potentially increase their sales and help them to recover and grow. This is a first step process in an export path for companies and will open avenues of opportunity to the UK, Europe and beyond,” said Liam Nellis, CEO for InterTradeIreland.