Kildare Chamber shortlisted for national Chamber Awards

Ahead of the official awards ceremony on 10 April, Chambers Ireland announced the official shortlist for the 2019 Chamber Awards yesterday – with Kildare Chamber amongst them.

Allan Shine, CEO of County Kildare Chamber said: “We are delighted to be nominated in the two categories that we entered.  Our Ambassadors Lunch was one of the highlights of our busy event calendar in 2018 and was hugely beneficial for our Corporate Partners.

“We had 36 Ambassadors to Ireland from across the globe attend the lunch in The K Club along with all key stakeholders in Kildare.  We are also shortlisted in the Local Authority Collaboration category.  Our Health and Wellbeing Week last year was attended by over 700 members and guests.  We hosted a series of events in all key towns in Kildare”.

The Chamber Awards winners will be announced at the official awards ceremony on 10 April at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Northwood, Santry. Awards will be presented for excellence in five different categories and one Chamber will be awarded the overall award of Chamber of the Year 2019.

This is the first hosting of the awards in 10 years, with the awards seeking to recognise the outstanding work of Chambers around the country. They give an opportunity for Chambers to showcase their achievements in a variety of categories, from innovative projects to successful events to collaborations with local and national government.

The shortlist features projects from 21 Chambers, exemplifying the wide-ranging work being done around the country.

Congratulating the Chambers shortlisted, Colm Blake, Head of Insurance Marketing at Zurich Ireland, the main sponsor of the awards, commented:

“Zurich is delighted to be the title sponsor of the Chamber Awards 2019. As a passionate insurer of Irish businesses, we are proud to be associated with these awards designed to recognise and celebrate excellence across the Chamber network and the challenging and important work Chambers and their members do on behalf of business in their communities and for the wider Irish society.”

Commenting on the reveal of the shortlist, Siobhan Kinsella, Chambers Ireland President said,

"I am delighted to reveal the shortlist for the Chamber Awards today. This is an ideal forum to profile, commend and award the brilliant work being produced by local Chambers on a regular basis. Through their work in fostering entrepreneurship and supporting local economic development, Chambers take the lead in launching innovative campaigns, projects and policy proposals. Our goal in hosting this national awards ceremony is to promote the creativity and hard work being done throughout the network every single day. We look forward to the awards ceremony in April and in the meantime, I would like to wish all of the shortlisted Chamber applicants the very best of luck.”

Kildare will compete in the following catergories:

Event of the Year

Carlow Chamber - Carlow Rooster Festival

Cork Chamber - Cork Chamber Annual Dinner 2019

County Kildare Chamber - Inaugural Kildare Ambassadors Luncheon

Mallow Chamber - Racing Home For Easter Festival

Mullingar Chamber - Winterfest Mullingar 2018

Northern Ireland Chamber - NI Chamber Networking Conference and Business Showcase 2018

Shannon Chamber - Mid-West Lean Network Conference 2018 - creating a Mindset for Lean

Waterford Chamber - Toys4Engineers Conference & Expo

Local Authority Collaboration

Bray Chamber - Bray in Business (BIB)

County Kildare Chamber - Healthy Ireland Week

County Meath Chamber - The National Enterprise Town 'Rising Star' Award Winner 2018 - The Sawmills Studios & Kells Printing Works

Drogheda Chamber - Fleadh Cheoil Na hEireann, Drogheda 2018

Dungarvan Chamber - Dungarvan Tourist Office

Kilkenny Chamber - Age Friendly Accreditation for Kilkenny Businesses #Celebrating Every Generation

South Dublin Chamber - Sustainable Business Partnership Programme with South Dublin County Council, South Dublin LEO and South Dublin Chamber

Featured image shows Brian Murphy and Cassandra Conway (the K Club) with Allan Shine, County Kildare Chamber at the Kildare Summer Business Expo in the Sheehy Motor Group showrooms, Naas.