Offaly County Council seeking tenders for economic strategy

OFFALY County Council is currently seeking tenders for the development of its five year Offaly Economic Development Strategy & Action Plan. Businesses are being invited to contact the Local Enterprise Office for more details.

The LEO points out that we are living in a time of great change due to accelerated decarbonisation, climate change and Brexit which are bringing big challenges to how we shape our economic strategies recovery. The LEO and the Council say they want to “build resilience and advance a more diversified, vibrant and sustainable economy in Offaly with a connected and engaged local business base and focused regional leadership.”

The Offaly Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan frames an overarching strategy and an action focused roadmap to build Offaly's economy in the years to come.

The plan looks impressive and it was formally presented to the councillors during their January County Council meeting.

The meeting heard that in terms of disposable income per person Offaly lags behind other counties in Ireland, but it is not the lowest in the Midland region.

The midland region has the lowest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the country, which means that it has the lowest economic growth in the country. It was pointed out to the councillors that GDP in Offaly is “consistent but with limited growth”.

“The attractiveness of the county must be transformed into new projects,” the councillors were told. “Since 2011 the county has stagnated and hasn't kept up with the rest of the country. However, there are signs of real progressive growth in the county.

“From January 2010 to January 2022 the county performed quite poorly in attracting Foreign Direct Investment. During the 12 years only a thousand FDI jobs were created in the county. Offaly was above the average in terms of company formations from 2015 to 2017, achieving 30 new company formations. In terms of active enterprise by industry classification, over 20% of the county's enterprise is in construction. The SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and Threats) analysis shows elements of positivity but an overall perspective of opportunities missed. Its strengths include a great location in Ireland – the county is close to everywhere and accessible. The county also has a breadth and depth of natural assets and the opportunities to exploit those assets.

“Among the county's weaknesses are the absence of a third level institution, a dependency on the ESB and Bord na Móna, a lack of confidence, and an insufficient amount of accommodation.

“Opportunities include Just Transition and the Waterways. Changes in the industrial landscape post Covid with adjustments to value chains and structures presents new opportunities for Offaly in terms of remote working, and developing new industries.
“Among the threats is the fact of the gap between the east and the west of the county. The county seems to have two personalities. Another threat is insufficient economic resilience.

“The stakeholders are united on some key points. One of these is the need to ensure young people are retained within the county. Parents need to know there are future job opportunities for their children in the county.

“Another problem is low levels of ambition and a fear to move out of one's comfort zone.

“More needs to be made from tourism. Perhaps we could create a Tourism+ mode that incorporates food, experiences and local enterprise to take tourists off the beaten track.

“The vision contained within this five year Strategy is that County Offaly will become an established Cleantech enterprise county with a national and international reputation for rapidly building, scaling and anchoring technology companies that address climate change across multiple sectors.

“The mission of this strategy and plan is to support the Irish and European journey to a net zero economy (net zero means the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. We reach net zero when the amount we add is no more than the amount taken away); and therefore position Offaly as a leading centre for innovation, talent and capital for cleantech innovations across a distinct number of sectors with an internationally recognised position. The activities of the plan are based on a collaborative Helix-5 cluster model that fosters partnerships with five key stakeholders – industry, SMEs, Academia, Investors and Government. This mission supports economic development goals of job growth, company growth, investment attraction and trade opportunities, by identifying gaps, facilitating engagement, and developing collaboration opportunities.”

The councillors were told of a number of areas of possible development in the county as a result of the strategy, including:
The Construction Centre of Excellence in Mount Lucas can be used as a national centre for the development of new capabilities in the county.

The Tullamore General Hospital affords the opportunity for the development of a MedTech campus and associated projects.

The ICT (Information and Communications Technology) sector with the Big Data element and the work being conducted by I-LOFAR affords Offaly a platform to build a new ICT sector supporting the main hubs in Ireland.

The promotion and expansion of Ferbane Food Campus.

“There is a core Governance issue to be addressed in Offaly,” the meeting was told. “Currently there are many agencies engaged and many cross-cutting agendas. It is proposed to have a Taskforce chaired by a private sector individual in Offaly with a secretariat from the Local Enterprise Office. This task force would cover all the agencies engaged in Offaly and ensure that the plans are being implemented. The taskforce would meet quarterly.

“It's also planned to provide an Offaly centric one stop shop to signpost companies to relevant supports.”

Orla Martin of the Local Enterprise Office told the meeting that this is an ambitious strategy for the county which will bring together SMEs, academia, investors, the government and industry.

Cllr Peter Ormond said it was an excellent presentation and an excellent sounding plan which hopefully will bear considerable fruit and will bring about economic development in the county. “This is a positive moment because we are being given an excellent roadplan to work with. I think all the SPCs (Strategic Policy Committees) in the council should take on board what is contained in this document.”

“The crux of our ambition for the county,” remarked Cllr Eamon Dooley, “is to create more disposable income and to create more jobs. As we all know so well a very high number of very well paying jobs have been lost in the ESB and Bord na Móna in the county. We want to replace them with equally well paid jobs. That's the objective. For the last few years we have been asking for, and not getting, accurate figures of the job losses in Bord na Móna and the ESB in the county.”
The meeting was told that under this Strategy the county would not be returning to carbon industries. The focus will be on clean, net zero industries.
Cllr John Clendennen said they need to work hard at spreading positive messages about the county. He said the IDA has woefully underperformed in terms of job creation in the midlands and Offaly. By contrast the Local Enterprise Office has been a powerful force for good and positivity. The councillor pointed out that too many young people are not staying in the county. “We have to do what we can to provide the circumstances for them so they can stay in the county. It's also very important that this report is activated and doesn't lie on shelves, like so many previous well meaning reports, gathering dust.”
Cllr Seán O'Brien said the aim is to make it possible for as many Offaly people as possible to remain in their home county and not have to go elsewhere for work.
Chief Executive Anna Marie Delaney remarked that following the implementation of the decarbonisation programme and the heavy loss of jobs the county needs a strategy for job creation. “This is it, therefore this is an important moment.”