Enterprise Week in Carlow to focus on Local SME procurement opportunities

As part of Local Enterprise Week 2022, Carlow County Councils – Local Enterprise Office & Procurement Office are providing local SMEs with an opportunity to learn more about public procurement opportunities and how local SME’s can grow their businesses through these opportunities by hosting a procurement essentials workshop on Wednesday March 9 2022 from 8am-10am.

Every year over €8.5 billion worth of contracts are awarded in Ireland through public procurement with many SMEs being very successful in winning these contracts.

One of the best ways for County Carlow SMEs to grow sales is to understand how to bid for, and win, public sector competitions.

Public procurement contests follow a formal, structured process and this introductory seminar will equip participants with the tools to navigate the public sector market place and to understand the process of how to bid effectively for public sector opportunities.

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Welcoming the seminar, Cllr. Fintan Phelan, Cathaoirleach said:

“Our procurement policies and procedures ensure that we are transparent in our dealings with potential suppliers and the public and we in Carlow County Council would like to encourage more local SMEs to engage in the procurement process”.

“That each year we spend millions in goods and services in order to support our work for the people of Carlow and this seminar is designed to support more local bidders in accessing and bidding for these commercial opportunities”.

The seminar will include procurement development advice from Mike McGrath from Avro and Ger Dooley, Procurement Office from Carlow County Council. It will be facilitated by Kieran Comerford, Head of Economic Development & Enterprise.

Mike McGrath is Managing Director of Arvo, a Procurement Consultancy which helps organisations to achieve procurement objectives, business efficiencies and public procurement compliance.

In the past, Mike was employed by the European Commission e-tendering Expert Group (eTEG) which defined a blueprint for public procurement within the EU, ensuring wide accessibility including cross-border, SME inclusiveness, wide interoperability, transparency, traceability, and accountability. For many years, Arvo have worked with buyers and suppliers supporting their public tender activities.

Speaking about the procurement process, Ger Dooley, Procurement Officer with Carlow County Council said:

“The most important thing that local SME’s have to do is understand the process of procurement and then prepare themselves for the bidding process.

“There are many examples of local suppliers already winning public sector bids not just in Carlow County Council but in the wider public sector. We as a local authority would like to see more bids from local Carlow companies and that is our motivation for running this seminar”

The seminar is one of a series of events being held from March 7-11 as part of Local Enterprise Week 2022.

Speaking about the event Seamus Doran, Assistant Head of Economic Development & Enterprise said:

“In 2 hours this seminar will give insights from advisors and experts in the area of procurement and I’d encourage people interested to attend this event”.

“Participants who attend will also be offered a one-to-one session with Mike McGrath, a recognised expert in procurement, at a future date to further support their opportunities in this space”.

The seminar will take place on Wednesday March 9 2022 from 8am-10.00am.

Places are free and can be booked on Local Enterprise Week 2022 – Procurement Essentials for SME’s - Local Enterprise Office - Carlow or by calling 059-9128763.