REVEALED: How many jobs created by Offaly's Local Enterprise Office in 2024
REVEALED: How many jobs created by Offaly's Local Enterprise Office in 2024
THE councillors of Offaly County Council were told during their recent meeting that the Local Enterprise Office in the county enjoyed a “very successful” year during 2024, receiving a lot of feedback from members of the public as well as providing a considerable amount of financial aid to small and medium enterprises.
Orla Martin told the meeting that 55 jobs were created during the year by LEO Offaly's “client companies.”
She said the LEO during the coming year will continue to “focus on job retention and job creation strategies. We will also focus on enhancing our mentoring programmes to support business growth. The feedback we get from many clients is that we do make a big difference to them.”
She added that hundreds of students are engaged with the LEO's student enterprise programmes.
Cllr John Leahy said seven people are in the LEO “working away behind the scenes. Creating 55 jobs during the last year is a phenomenal achievement. The business environment is challenging and people often criticise the Council for not doing more and criticise our Rates system. In fact, the real story, the truth, is different to that. The Council, through its LEO, is working very hard for SMEs.”
Cllr Seán O'Brien agreed. “During the era of social media,” he remarked, “a lot of flippant comments do the rounds, which are far from the truth. We need to state the facts. The LEO staff are fantastic and very helpful. They deal directly with businesses and in total confidence. The big message I want to send out to businesses and retailers is, there is help, get in touch with us.”