GMIT Welcomes Announcement Of Funding For Business Incubation Centre

GMIT Welcomes Announcement Of Funding For Business Incubation Centre

Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology has today welcomed the decision by An Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Harney TD to allocate it a share of the €24 million for business incubation granted to eleven Institutes of Technology under an initiative managed by Enterprise Ireland.

The establishment of the business incubation centres at GMIT's Galway and Castlebar campuses is part of an overall strategy of building regional innovation through the Institutes of Technology. Funding of €2.610 million has been approved for the development of an Industrial Support Centre at the Galway campus with €1.358 million approved for a similar centre at the Castlebar campus. In her announcement, An Tanaiste announced that the Institutes were regarded as the main engines for growth in the regions and that €24 million of funding would help them to build their business incubation and commercial research activities as well as give existing companies in their regions the technology support they need.

Responding to the announcement, the Director of Galway-Mayo Institutes of Technology, Marion Coy, said that An Tanaiste's decision to commit this funding underscored their role in generating local employment and industry as well as the continuous demand from the local business community for services from their sector. These incubation centers will provide the ideal environment for the Institute and business to collaborate in bringing new business ideas to the manufacturing and delivery stage.

"Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology house the most modern laboratory, library and information technology facilities and has the human and academic resources needed to interact with industry in the region, and technical expertise, provide the regions with an enormous resource for economic and social development," she concluded.

By the end of 2004 most Institutes of Technology in Ireland will have an Incubation Centre.

Funding for the Centres at the campuses in Galway and Castlebar is provided for under the Regional Operational Programmes for the BMW and the Southern and Eastern Regions. The programme is co-financed by the EU under the Structural Funds. It is operated by Enterprise Ireland on behalf of the Office of Science and Technology of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and under the authority of the Regional Assemblies.

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