The results of the first round of the new €60m competitive Regional Enterprise Development Fund has been announced today by Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys.

The Fund, which is an open national competitive call to support regional projects, is provided by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, through Enterprise Ireland and is a key action to support the Regional Action Plan for Jobs and the Action Plan for Rural Development.

Twenty-one successful applicants representing all regions of the country have secured up to €30.5m for their projects in the first competitive call. Over €14m has been approved for projects in the southern region, over €11m for projects in the eastern and midlands region and over €5m has been approved for the northern and western region, subject to grant conditions.

Under a competitive call process, Enterprise Ireland sought applications for funding under four streams with varying investment levels:
Stream 1. Major Change Projects - €2m up to €5m per project
Stream 2. Regionally Significant Projects - €250,000 up to €2m per project
Stream 3. Local & Community Enterprise Development Projects - €50,000 up to €250,000 per project
Stream 4. Industry Clusters - €50,000 up to €250,000 per project

Welcoming the announcement, Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring said, "As a Government we need to continually challenge ourselves on how to create jobs outside of the main cities. That’s exactly what this fund does. It will directly support innovative projects in our regions and, in doing so, help to create rural jobs."

He added, "By creating jobs in rural Ireland we can convince young people to live in rural areas. I wish the successful applicants every success and urge companies in our regions to consider applying for the second round of funding early next year."

Source: www.businessworld.ie