7th April 2014, Monday
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
A non-profit company which supports community programmes in County Cork held a “showcase” event this afternoon.
SECAD stands for South and East Cork Area Development and it’s one of around 50 leader companies across Ireland.
It works in partnership with state agencies to help people open new businesses, assist the long-term unemployed, and offer training and education etc.
Speaking about todays SECAD Event Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney told TheCork.ie that SECAD has done excellent work, and the huge crowds at the 2-hour event were testament to that
0407-SECAD-01-simon-coveney-gives-simple-explanation.mp3
Returning to SECAD… The South and East Cork Region has benefitted from the company with an investment of over €20 million in the last number of years. In the last 3 years alone, more than €4 million has been directly invested in businesses and startups in the Region. These micro-enterprises would not have been eligible for other funding supports, and were enabled to create jobs and benefit the economy directly as a result of SECAD funding.
In the last 3 years, the report shows that, from an agri-tourism perspective, over 127,000 people visited open farms funded by SECAD and almost 350,000 have visited the top tourism attractions in the Region which have received funding from SECAD (Fota Wildlife, Titanic Experience and Movie Junction).
