Westmeath LEO companies created almost 130 new jobs in 2025, new figures show
Local Enterprise Office Westmeath-supported companies created 127 (nett) new jobs in 2025, according to figures released by Minister of State for Employment, Small Business and Retail Alan Dillon, TD yesterday.
The Westmeath figure takes into account companies that amalgamated, ceased trading and those that transferred on to Enterprise Ireland. They show that the LEO Westmeath financially supported 285 small businesses, who employ 1,845 people.
Christine Charlton, head of Enterprise, LEO Westmeath, said: “The figures highlight the significant impact that the Local Enterprise Offices and their clients are making in driving economic growth across the country. The creation of over 127 new jobs is only a small part of the role LEOs play in fostering entrepreneurship and growing enterprise in towns, villages and communities all over Ireland.
“These jobs and clients figures only reflect those who have received financial funding from their LEO and do not capture the thousands more that receive the likes of Lean, Green and Digital supports or training and mentoring.
“The numbers are immensely positive and reflect the resilience of the small business sector and we look forward to growing our work with these businesses in 2026 and to help those who have a great idea to get started.”
Nationally the LEOs now financially support 40,285 jobs at 7,148 companies, the highest number since their inception in 2014.
In 2025, 7,261 new jobs were created by LEO clients companies; the nett job creation figure is 2,479, up 7% nationally on 2024.
LEOs also provide substantial funded supports to thousands of other small businesses in programmes such as the Grow Digital Voucher, Lean for Business and Green for Business, along with training and mentoring.
Minister Dillon said: “The 31 Local Enterprise Offices continue to be the backbone of local economic development, supporting 40,285 jobs in 2025, the highest level since their establishment. Last year alone, LEO client companies created 7,261 new jobs, delivering a 7% increase on 2024 and marking the 12th consecutive year of jobs growth.
“Crucially, 82% of the new jobs were created outside Dublin, demonstrating the impact of targeted local supports in every region. From digitalisation to sustainability and export development, our LEOs are helping small businesses compete and scale. Government remains firmly committed to strengthening these supports so that entrepreneurs nationwide can continue to grow and thrive.”
Anne Lanigan, head of Local Enterprise and Regions at Enterprise Ireland, said the results show the ambition of the small business owners. “The continued growth in jobs, with 82% of the new jobs created last year outside Dublin, shows that entrepreneurs can start, grow and scale their businesses from anywhere in Ireland. Enterprise Ireland will continue to work closely with the Local Enterprise Offices in areas such as competitiveness, sustainability and digitalisation, supporting businesses to strengthen capability and create jobs in 2026 and beyond.”
The LEOs also run Local Enterprise Week, National Women’s Enterprise Day, the Student Enterprise Programme and the National Enterprise Awards. They are also running a campaign encouraging small businesses to save time money and energy by availing of their competitiveness and productivity supports including Green, Lean and Digital for Business; see AllInADaysWork.ie.