Boyne Valley Food Innovation District among regional projects to secure funding from the Regional Economic Development fund

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys TD this week announced the results of the second round of the €60 million Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF), an open national competitive call to support regional projects.

Twenty- one successful applicants, out of a total of 77 applications, representing all regions of the country have secured up to €29.5m for their projects in the second call for proposals under the Governments Project Ireland 2040 backed, competitive Enterprise Ireland Regional Enterprise Development Fund.

Announcing the successful applicants of the Regional Enterprise Development Fund at a special event in the Meath Enterprise Centre in Navan on Monday, Minister Humphreys said: “The Regional Enterprise Development Fund is aimed at accelerating economic recovery in every part of the country by delivering on the potential of local and regional strengths. This funding, provided by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, through Enterprise Ireland under the National Development Plan is a key action to support the Regional Action Plan for Jobs and the Action Plan for Rural Development.

Today’s announcement reaffirms the government’s commitment to improve employment opportunities in all areas of the country by making substantial additional funds available. This fund supports industry clustering and enables innovation and collaboration among organisations and communities to ultimately create more jobs right across the country.”

Gary O’Meara, Managing Director, Boyne Valley Food Innovation District said: The Boyne Valley Food Innovation District has the potential to become a leading food cluster that helps Irish indigenous food companies to build capacity and value so that they can scale into global markets. We are delighted that Phase 1 of this exciting project ‘The Boyne Valley Food Hub’ has been funded under REDF and we look forward to working closely Meath County Council, Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia and all our other partners to establish the Boyne Valley and the wider region as a world class destination for scaling food companies ”

Twenty-one successful applicants are approved the award of funding totaling €29.5 million. The winners were selected through a rigorous evaluation process based on criteria which included impacts and value for money, collaboration and participation, viability and sustainability, building regional strengths and significance for innovation.

Successful projects announced at Monday’s event in the Meath Enterprise Centre include:

· The Boyne Valley Food Innovation District DAC, Meath – €1,580,640

· Bioconnect Innovation Centre CLG, Monaghan – €4,976,880

· Galway City Innovation District CLG – €2,487,400

· Hospital Foods Unit DAC, Limerick – €2,279,073

· Ludgate Operations CLG, Cork – €1,990,392

· National Design Innovation Hub DAC Carlow/Kilkenny – €1,843,320

· Clare MEZ (Maritime Economic Zone) DAC- €1,759,226

Julie Sinnamon, CEO, Enterprise Ireland said: “Supporting enterprises to build scale and expand reach is a key focus of Enterprise Ireland and the Regional Enterprise Development Fund helps us to further drive growth in key sectors across the country, particularly in the context of Brexit.

The Boyne Valley Food Innovation District based here in County Meath is one of the companies which has received an offer of funding and I would like to congratulate them on their successful application and look forward to seeing the difference this funding will make on the ground as they set about developing the initiative.”

Monday’s announcement follows the award of €30.5million in financial support to 21 applicants for a range of enterprise and capability development projects during the first call, rel eased in December 2017. The awardees of the Second Call announced by the Minister on Monday will fund projects with the remaining balance of the €60m under the REDF.