Business awards launched
A new business initiative, the Meath Business Awards, has been launched this week by the Meath Chronicle in partnership with Meath County Council and Meath Tourism. The awards will culminate in a black tie gala awards ceremony at Dunboyne Castle Hotel on 4th November next, modelled on the successful template already in use for the annual Meath Sports Awards.
The Meath Business Awards promise to be a valuable medium for local businesses to not only promote their organisation's successes but also to receive widespread recognition for achievement, innovation and excellence. While the current adverse economic conditions pose major challenges for businesses across the county, it is nonetheless an ideal time for innovative companies to tell their peers and the wider county how well they are coping with the downturn and how they plan to grow and develop their businesses as the upturn comes around.
The aim of the awards is to celebrate the achievements of Meath-based businesses and to recognise the vital contribution they make to the local economy. Present at Monday's launch of the awards at Dunboyne Castle Hotel were Cllr Anne Dillon Gallagher, chairperson of Meath County Council; Cllr John V Farrelly, chairperson of Meath Tourism; Kevin Stewart, Meath County Council's director of economic development and innovation; Michele Whelan of Meath Tourism, and Claire King of the council's economic development and innovation unit, in addition to Frank Mulrennan, director of publishing operations with the Celtic Media Group, the Meath Chronicle's parent company, and Mary McGuigan, sales manager, Meath Chronicle.
Among the sponsors present were Christina Lombard of Dunboyne-based Alltech Ireland, who is responsible for media relations with the company, as well as Leonie Thornton, business development manager with Dunboyne Castle Hotel. Business awards are held in some of the major towns in Meath, some in conjunction with the various chambers of commerce locally, but it has been some number of years since there have been awards celebrating the best of business across the county.
With the opening of the M3 and the potential for new business that this now brings to the county, the organisers believe it is time to reward best business practice employed in local companies across a number of categories. The Meath Chronicle will publish a special supplement marking the awards in November, profiling the category award nominees, along with profiles of the awards' sponsors and partners.
Application forms to nominate companies will be printed in the newspaper and be available on the Meath Chronicle website with full criteria for entry. Each category will have three finalists who will be invited to the awards ceremony in November when the overall winner will be announced. One of the categories will be tourism, sponsored by Meath Tourism, which will have eight sub-categories. It will replace the Meath Marketing Awards last held in 2008.
Among the other categories which businesses can enter will be:
• Outstanding Small/Medium Business
• Best New Product or Service
• Customer Service
• Marketing
• Innovation/Innovator of the Year
• Global/International Trade
• Emerging New Business
• Business/Business Person of the Year