We finally made it to Ireland! After arriving in Ireland, we had the opportunity to visit Enterprise Ireland.

Enterprise Ireland, “Where innovation means business”, is a government-owned organization that helps businesses to startup, innovate and grow. They offer many different ways to support businesses. This includes funding support, export assistance, supports to develop competitiveness, incentives to stimulate in company R&D, assistance with R&D, connections to customers overseas. Enterprise Ireland gives support to many companies in Ireland, which makes it a great place to start a business.

This government agency was interesting, especially because we do not have any government-owned companies quite like this in the U.S. I enjoyed learning more about why so many startups and innovations are taking place in Ireland. I took many new things away from this visit to Enterprise Ireland.

First, I what I found most interesting was that their management development programs strategy is to 1. build strength, ambition and innovation and 2. expand reach and Irish exports footprint. They do this by offering mentors for their clients through this program. What I found amazing was that they constantly find established people that want to help the Irish economy. They do their mentoring for free just because it is an amazing cause. Enterprise also said that they are constantly refreshing their panel of mentors. This seems like it would be a great opportunity for startups, not only for their expertise but also because of the connections that they introduce to the startup. 95% of clients said that they continue to contact their mentor after the program is over.

Their Client Management Development also intrigued me. Karen Hernandez talked about how it is difficult to find talent and skills. Their programs do not have a certificate or diploma after completion because they want to make them as practical as possible. Their programs are not just presentations but they have breakout sessions so that companies can connect. Many of which become advisors. Their Global 4 Growth for senior management and at the end of the program the management puts together a strategy for future growth.

The presentations were filled with tons of information. This was great to learn but at times it got complicated especially because they had such limited time to explain. I found myself wanting more information about the company but felt there wasn’t enough time to ask questions. I wrote down the information that I found most interesting. At times it was difficult to focus on the details of the presentations because I wasn’t at my best due to getting almost no sleep on the plane the night before. Their Irish accent sounded like another language at first, I had to listen more closely to understand them. It was helpful to write down what I did understand to get me to stay focused and remember the more difficult topics.