Golf Classic 16th August 2007

Sligo Chamber’s 8th Annual Golf Classic, which was sponsored by the soon to be opened Johnston Court, took place in County Sligo Golf Club, Rosses Point on Thursday 16th August.

Despite uncertain weather early in the morning, playing conditions for the day were excellent as was the turnout again this year with 36 teams taking part.  DNG Flanagan Ford, who were fourth in last year’s competition, were the overall winners for 2007.  A joint team, comprising Gary Reynolds & Co. and the Independent Trustee Company Ltd., were second, while The Mortgage Centre was 3rd.  A team from Galway, Brivant came in fourth, fifth place was secured by FAS, sixth by the Captain & Lady Captain’s Team of Co. Sligo Golf Club, and 7th by BTW Tilesavers.

The overall sponsor, Johnston Court sponsored the first prize of €1000 worth of shopping vouchers for use in the new shopping centre once opened towards the end of September 2007.

Golf Jumpers from the Golf Pro Shop in Rosses Point, Vouchers for The Lighthouse/Clifford Electrical, Cross Pens from Wehrly Bros., Wine from The Wine Buff, and Golf Books from the Book Nest were among the other prizes.

Chamber President Tony Wehrly expressed his gratitude to the overall sponsor Johnston Court for their support of the event and to the Greens Sponsor Marc Mac Sharry Properties.  He also thanked all other sponsors, supporters, and participants, without whom the golf classic could not take place.  Special thanks were given to the County Sligo Golf Club, Rosses Point for their assistance with the Sligo Chamber’s annual event.

Sligo Chamber’s AGM took place in the Radisson Hotel on Thursday 31st May.

After a brief review of the Chamber’s activities over the past 12 months, Chamber CEO, Rebecca Stevens, presented an overview of the membership base and upcoming plans.  She highlighted the main networking events and, in particular, the programmes that the joint Sligo EIC and Sligo Chamber office are running throughout 2007.

Chamber President, Tony Wehrly, addressed the AGM bringing focus once again to some of Sligo Chamber’s core issues, notably the lobbying priorities for Sligo and the North West.  High on the agenda are Parking for the City Centre; Road & Rail Infrastructure; extension of the gas grid to Sligo, broadband availability to rural parts of the county; and job creation and opportunities.  “Growth in employment opportunities and job creation is a must for the region.  Our County’s growth and development needs to be supported by new businesses; entrepreneurs and industries investing in the region”, quotes Tony Wehrly.  The President also reiterated his call for a Ministerial Post for the region – “A Minister at the Cabinet Table improves opportunities for growth and development and we feel that Sligo has missed out by not having our needs properly addressed in the past”, continues Mr. Wehrly.

Mr. Wehrly looks forward to continuing on as Chamber President until January 2008 when he will hand over to the current Vice President Joe McCann.  In tandem with the Chamber Staff, Council and Committees, he aims to continue working on all issues and concerns pertinent to Sligo’s sustainable development.

Sligo Chamber was delighted to have Marian Harkin MEP as the Guest Speaker for the AGM, who concluded the evening with an extremely informative talk on the workings of the EU Parliament, its importance and benefits for Ireland.  According to Ms Harkin, it is possible to influence the decisions taken in the EU by lobbying the relevant Government Minister, MEPs and the EU Commissioner.  She also stressed the importance of Research & Development for the EU.  At least 3% of GDP is to be invested in R&D by 2010.  Ireland invested only 1.2% of GDP in 2004 and the BMW region received a very low share of that investment.  According to Ms Harkin, this is a warning bell if we do not want to fall behind the rest of Europe.

Leadership Seminar                                                                    

Over 30 business people attended Sligo Chamber’s Leadership Seminar held on Wednesday 16th May in the Sligo Southern Hotel.

The seminar, which was organised in conjunction with LEAP, the Galway Based Business Advisory Company, consisted of three business speakers from varying backgrounds and provided valuable insights into leading and marketing businesses towards success.

The presentations commenced with Mike Gaffney, Leadership Director of LEAP, who spoke about the challenges facing business managers and leaders today.  He drew attention, in particular, to the need to understand and maximise personal leadership impact through increased self-awareness and by playing to one’s strengths.  He supported this by matching the various leadership types with renowned business leaders.

Eugene McBrearty, MD of K.E.R. (Killybegs Electrical Refrigeration Services Ltd.), discussed the issues he faced as a business leader in an oscillating fishing industry and how he progressed from being a self confessed “busy fool” and cultivated his business into the successful enterprise it is today.

Dr. Aidan Daly of LEAP presented a lively and detailed approach to implementing “Effective Marketing on a Limited Budget.” Aidan provided practical inexpensive tools and techniques for researching the target market and competition, gaining competitive advantage and delivering exceptional customer service, regardless of industry.

Speaking after the event, Rebecca Stevens, CEO Sligo Chamber, said “It was good to see such a cross section of businesses in attendance.  Thanks to the different speakers and the completely different modes of presentation, I hope everybody took something from the seminar, either additional insights in leadership or effective marketing tools which they can implement at little cost in their day-to-day businesses”.

The official Presidential Hand-Over Ceremony, which took place last Friday 19th January in the Sligo City Hotel, saw Tony Wehrly take up the office of Sligo Chamber President.  As a long standing Chamber Member, Tony has worked tirelessly on many Chamber led events and activities over the past number of years.

In his address last Friday, Tony thanked Ann on behalf of Sligo Chamber and its Council, for a very successful term in office, commenting that Ann was “an outstanding President” and was “always very fair”.

Tony who is delighted to accept this role, considers it a “great honour”, and believes Sligo Chamber has a very important role to play in the business community.  As a committed Sligo man, Tony intends to lobby on behalf of all the business community – manufacturing, services and retail.  “As this is an election year, we intend to keep our politicians busy and we will be lobbying for jobs, our infrastructure, our new train service, gas and last but not least the Western Rail Corridor”, quotes the new President.

Also high on the agenda again this year is Parking, which Tony considers one of the biggest single problems facing Sligo at the moment.  He would like to see a working committee set up, including representatives of Sligo Chamber and the local authority, to address this issue.

Sligo Chamber CEO Rebecca Stevens welcomes the appointment of Tony Wehrly and states “I was delighted to have had the opportunity of working closely with Ann over the past year.  She was a very dynamic and committed President.  I look forward to continuing her good work and efforts with Tony”.