Community loan for Portarlington Enterprise Centre

Unity is strength, as the old maxim goes. And the truth of that observation is well understood in the town of Portarlington.

 

Almost 25 years ago, a series of public meetings resulted in the formation of the Portarlington Community Development Association, with the aim of forging a common sense of purpose on the town’s future development and growth.

By giving voice to the concerns of the entire community, the PCDA could thereby help shape a new and shared vision for the town on key issues such as enterprise growth, the environment, tourism and issues of concern to the area’s young population. It has since proven to be an enormously prescient step that has significantly enriched the social and enterprise fabric of the town. 

 

Thus, 2004 saw the opening of a dedicated Community Enterprise Centre, providing a range of important sporting, cultural and social services. It also saw the establishment of a Job Club, a Community Employment Scheme, an After Schools project and a range of enhanced tourism and other facilities.

 

More recently, the Association moved to address a serious deficit in the availability of commercial and enterprise space within the town, with the nearest units located some 20 miles from the town.

 

Clearly, that lack of enterprise space was hampering growth in the area, particularly in light of the town’s growing population, its proximity to major centres such as Dublin and strong transport links. An expert subgroup was established to progress the issue and a plan was drawn up to develop a new enterprise centre for the town, which would house both start-up businesses and more established enterprises.

 

The new centre comprises some 9,500 sq. feet, houses 12 industrial units and eight office spaces. It boasts an Innovation hub with a fully equipped makerspace, training rooms and contemporary hot-desking facilities. The new training rooms have been designed to cater for growing training needs of SMEs and higher education providers. And, to help the rowing industry of content creators, vloggers and podcasters, there is a studio complete with the latest audio and video equipment.

 

This innovative new initiative was backed by Clann Credo.