"Dragon" to speak at Mullingar meeting

One of the 'Dragons' from the RTE series, 'The Dragons" Den', is coming to Mullingar to speak at an event this Thursday evening.Bobby Kerr, who as well as taking a lead role in The Dragons" Den is CEO of the Insomnia Coffee Company, is to address a public forum organised by the Westmeath Employment Pact at the Annebrook Hotel at 8 p.m.The event is free, and is open to all employers, businesses, sole traders, and potential entrepreneurs.The event has been organised by the Employment Pact in conjunction with Mullingar Chamber of Commerce, in response to the current economic downturn - and the intention is that following Mr. Kerr"s presentation, moves will be underway to set up a 'Business Forum' for Mullingar.New groupBecause of local job losses, the Pact is to set up what it wants to be 'a strong and effective group' which 'will be responsive to local needs and will improve on current support for business development, training and employment', Westmeath Employment Pact coordinator, Larry Fullam, told the Westmeath Examiner this week.He said the is aim to have local businesses and employers represented on this working group, which will act 'as a platform to share experiences and possible interventions and solutions and which will feed back to the statutory agencies'.Membership of the Business Forum will be free of charge to any local business, and will be run by business for business. It will work in conjunction with Westmeath Employment Pact, the Social Partners and other state agencies.Businesses will get the chance to share ideas and possible interventions to the current situation regarding job losses.'We believe the forum can do more to help local companies grow and encourage more business start-ups,' Mr. Fullam said, adding that the more businesses that join, the stronger the voice will be.It is envisaged that the Forum can support enterprise in the local area in a variety of ways:• Lobbying for business and enterprise friendly policies and the promotion of and entrepreneurial culture.• Working with business support organisations to improve the quality of help and advice to start-ups.• Supporting key organisations who promote enterprise .• Helping to improve the image of Mullingar and attract investment which can create new entrepreneurial opportunities.WEP intends carrying out a training audit by identifying what training is currently available and areas where there is an overabundance and/or shortage of training based on the skills audit. This will feed into any future training plans for the area.A website for the project will be maintained which will detail local job vacancies and supports available to both employers and employees alike.In addition, the Pact can provide career suitability testing and job hunting assistance to persons who have become unemployed.