Longford female entrepreneurs urged to join ACORNS

Longford female entrepreneurs are encouraging others from the county to join the latest cycle of ACORNS - a highly-successful free development initiative to support early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland.

The call for applications for the 9th cycle of ACORNS was recently launched by Charlie McConalogue T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine. ACORNS is funded through the Department’s Rural Innovation and Development Fund.

The programme comes highly recommended by previous participants, with 100% of those surveyed at the end of the 8th cycle saying they would recommend the programme to others. The 46 entrepreneurs in ACORNS 8 made significant progress over the six months of their involvement, reporting significant growth in their new businesses.

Their combined turnover almost doubled in the six months to April 2023 - from €1.9m to €3.6m. Participants in ACORNS 8 employed 96 (55 full-time, 41 part-time) staff at the end of the cycle, an increase of 16. There were also five new exporters over the cycle.

There are 50 places available for ACORNS 9 which will run from October 2023 to April 2024. Those wishing to receive an application form for ACORNS 9 should register on the website (www.acorns.ie).

The deadline for applications is midnight, September 22.

Past participants from Longford include Lyndsay Considine who runs LC Digital (www.lcdigital.ie), a digital marketing and social media consultancy, management and training company, from her home in Drumlish.

Lyndsay was a participant on ACORNS 7.

She said, “ACORNS is a fabulous experience for any businesswoman. The programme has inspired and motivated me to grow my business, while giving me access to a friendly, ambitious network of women across Ireland in every sector imaginable.”