On Thursday 5th March, the County Carlow Chamber launched its newest event in the UPMC Outreach Centre Carlow. Members Pi
tch and Networking is designed to allow for enhanced networking and to encourage ideas sharing and collaboration between member companies.
As people arrived for the evening, refreshments were provided and there was some time to network and catch up. Opening the evening, Brian O’Farrell, CEO of the Chamber commented “Many times we drive past a business and believe we know what happens in the facility, what they do and how they do it. In reality, business changes and what we believe may have changed. The members pitch and networking event will take people inside a range of businesses to see what truly is happening and allow for ideas to be shared”.
The opening pitch was from Miriam Griffin of the UPMC Outreach Centre, where she outlined the plans around the facility and the work of UPMC in Ireland to date. The focus of UPMC as a not for profit company is on bringing healthcare closer to home and investing in their facilities, she also outlined some of the work to date especially in he UPMC Concussion Network which is revolutionising how concussion is approached in Ireland – providing better education and testing using the latest technologies. The UPMC Outreach Centre in Carlow is also due to welcome its first consultant on site later in the month.
Paul Byrne of Business IT Solutions (BITS), a company supporting over 2,500 users in the South East spoke of the confusion that is caused by the use of the terms and jargon that is forced upon businesses and individuals just because they are the owners of IT Systems. With terms like PSTN, DSL, Firewalls, Hybrid Cloud, Encryption, Anti-spam and many more as the list went on, we are all becoming over whelmed and he firmly believes that Business IT Solutions(BITS) are the answer to that confusion a capable trustworthy IT partner, allowing you to focus on your own particular strengths.
Jeff Hott of Tir 3D, the leading land and engineering surveying consultancy company based in Bagenalstown. Their fresh and energetic approach, coupled with the dependability and trustworthiness of true experience has helped them to stand out from the more traditional survey firms. Jeff discussed how they provide a fully integrated survey solution for land and engineering and architectural projects both above ground and below surface. Their services include Topographical Surveying, Measured Building Surveys, Conservation & Heritage Surveys, Engineering Surveys, 3D Laser Scanning, Scan to BIM, Aerial Surveys and Inspections, Monitoring and Visualization.
James Doyle established JPD Management and Consultancy Service in 2017, with over 25 years industry experience. He focuses on 3 main areas, Efficiency, Management and Compliance and believes that if he is not Adding Value to Your Business, then he is just a cost. James went through some examples of how he has helped some clients, including where he attained an annual saving of over €128,000 through changes to yield, and efficiency in a food preparation business.
Innovotec is a company on a mission to deliver exceptional and innovative agrifeed solutions in partnership with their customers. Mary McDonagh took us on a virtual tour of the company, outlining where they have come from and what they are doing in relation to product development, in particular their focus on the pig and poultry sectors.
The ambition of EY Ireland is to be the firm of choice for the best businesses in the country, generating market leading growth for their clients through pride, skills and confidence in people. Ross McKiernon provided an overview of the company who have 6 offices across the country including the Waterford office where he is based. It is often wrongly assumed that EY is a company only for those with considerable resources, however the range of services they provide across Assurance, Tax, Advisory and Transactions can and will benefit all sized clients. The Waterford office has over 90 people working across the 4 areas and they have been growing by over 20% year on year.
Communication is more than words and Dorothy Fletcher Bentley of Earthling took us into a range of areas to see the work that has been done to aid communication through Graphic Design. Highlighting some of her recent projects from custom graphics and websites to greeting cards and Infographics, Dorothy brought the audience on a tour, through a world of visual communications, and into the world of Belle Horreur, where she has an online business with specially designed horror and sci-fi inspired t-shirts and gifts.
The final presentation of the day was by Colin Bentley of Fletcher Bentley IT Consultancy, a company which focuses on keeping your IT systems running efficiently and providing the tools to enhance your business. Whether you are looking for Cloud Support, Managed Services or enhanced Online Security, they will have a solution to assist you and coupled with that they can support you in communications and establishing a system right for supporting remote access capability.
The evening concluded with further networking and an opportunity for attendees to explore the various business in further details, while Miriam and the team at UPMC Outreach Centre also provided tours of the premises.
The Chamber announced further dates for the “Members Pitch and Networking” event, as follows:
- Wednesday 3rd June 2020 – Bank of Ireland, Shamrock Plaza
- Thursday 8th October 2020 – Michael Lyng Motors, Sleaty Road, Carlow
