Much of Mallow’s residential and business community turned out to hear the news. Minister Batt O’Keefe, the town Mayor, the county Mayor, Chamber of Commerce president Pat O’Sullivan and Intel Capital head, Damien Callaghan all spoke at the meeting.

It was revealed thet there would be a partnership between the National Center for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning ( NCE-MSTL ) and the schools in Mallow, Doneraile and Buttevant. This partnership will look to address the issues with the maths and science curriculi at present, including the decline in students taking maths at an honours level.

Mallow will also partner with the NIMBUS center in the Cork Institute of Technology as a testing ground for new technologies incubated at the center. It is hoped thet local firms will be instrumental in testing the technologies for real-life applications, and that the new technologies can improve the lot of businesses, residents and visitors to the town.

The University of Limerick will team up with Mallow’s state-of-the-art primary healthcare center, for initiatives including work placement programs.

Intel Capital’s Damian Callaghan spoke of how the action plan devised by the Mallow Development Partnership tallied closely with the Innovation Task Force’s Building Ireland’s Smart Economy document which outlines the government programme for medium-term economic recovery based around the concept of the Smart Economy.

The meeting concluded with a showcase of a new video promoting Mallow as a town to live, work and invest in. The video can be seen at http://www.mallow.ie

There have recently been big changes to the Mallow retail and services infrastructure. The Chamber of Commerce has been completely revamped into a progressive, responsive entity. Local traders have an active organisation which meets regularly. All in all, Mallow businesses are very focused on providing a quality shopping experience. Any local trader has a story or two about regular customers from far away who are regularly drawn back to Mallow because they love to shop here.

photo credit: lejoe

Some specialist purchases will still need to be sourced elsewhere, but Mallow can satisfy most requirements. Between the supermarkets and excellent butchers, greengrocers, bakers and delicatessens the weekly food shop is well and truly covered. I’ve personally sourced a lot of electronics and white goods locally, because the price was better than anything I could find on the internet.

Now that the bigger industries have largely left the town, Mallow depends on local businesses and retailers for it’s jobs and local economy. So this week, why not do your weekly shop in Mallow?

photo credit: Magnus D

More and more companies are looking to North Cork as a prime location. Lidl has a distribution center in Ballyhea, and Aldi is constructing another in Mitchelstown.  Furthermore, with the proposed M20 Cork Limerick motorway in prospect, combined with accessible rail, air and sea transport, the infrastructure looks very attractive.

Locals were thrilled at the prospect, with one resident enthusing “It would be fabulous for the town!”

Summary of last open coffee as published on http://opencoffeemallow.wordpress.com/
photo credit: philcampbell

Another day down, another Bank Holiday closer to summer. Some would ask “What summer?” but we know it’s on the way (once the ash clears!). There is a lot of scary stuff going on at the minute in Ireland. The country is mourning the loss of a favourite radio broadcaster, Gerry Ryan, while they are quickly approaching election day in the UK. Meanwhile an Irish rower has just traversed 2500 nautical miles across the Atlantic ocean, spending 118 days away from his family, and the Gulf of Mexico is slicked with crude oil. Some may be celebrating sporting wins over the weekend, and others drowning their sorrows, Irish style!

But in the library and then the bar of Springfort Hall today, there was little talk of losses today. Conversations crossed from twitter to local news to national politics and current affairs. There was  a lot of interest in the subject of Social Media and Social Networking, and especially the different takes on whether it should be used or not, and is it of any benefit.

With Web 2.0 firmly in place, who could argue that Social Networking is not the future, it’s the present. Businesses who are not “buying into” the concept of connecting with their clients and customers online, may find themselves in a dilemma by 2011.

So, Mallow Open Coffee are asking the question, are small businesses interested in learning more about the Web 2.0 world? Head over to the POLL page right now and cast your vote. We will certainly run a workshop if the need is there, even a taster of the benefits and uses of the various platforms that are now part of everyday business internet usage.

Springfort Hall, New Twopothouse, Mallow, First Tuesday of the month from 10am to 12 noon.

The Open Coffee Club was started in London to encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organise real-world informal meet-ups to chat, network and grow. There are already 8 OCCs operating in Ireland.

Open Coffee Club Mallow will meet on the first Tuesday of every month and play host to a network of diverse and progressive businesses in and around the North Cork area. The Club/Network is free to join and operates as a casual drop-in opportunity for busy entrepreneurs and business owners, all with one common goal: to grow their business. The only cost is a cup of coffee and possibly a scone.

Founders of the Mallow Club, Elaine Rogers of Seefin Coaching and Gráinne Sherlock of Local Discounts decided to set up the club as a support and platform for entrepreneurs to come together and share their experiences.

Speaking of the initiative, Elaine Rogers of Seefin Coaching said “Our collective interest will ensure the Business Communities of the North Cork region connect and build quality business contacts and relationships to enrich and boost our local economies. The Open Coffee Club meetings offer an informal venue for people from all walks of life to meet up as long as they have an interest in business. You can meet new people, exchange experiences, form bonds and do some business. Most of the more established Open Coffee Clubs have generated successful new ventures, and I am confident that the Mallow Club will do the same”.

Gráinne Sherlock of Local Discounts added that “Building connections between businesses is imperative to provide for the sustainability of our local economy, as businesses, and in particular start ups feel more and more isolated. Each month we will have a key speaker to provide expertise and advice on a number of issues concerning setting up and running a business in today’s economic climate”.

She continued, “Up until now a lot of business networking activities have been limited to cities, this in spite of the fact that towns like Mallow, Charleville and other rural areas also have a thriving entrepreneurial community”.

The club is open to all business people and budding entrepreneurs in North Cork, East Limerick and other nearby areas.