Invest Roscommon - local place-based initiative to foster smart transition to growth sectors
About this good practice
Invest Roscommon is a local authority-led initiative providing a place-based approach to foster smart sectors for a rural, strategically located county in Ireland (pop. c.70,000).
The aim is to foster Co. Roscommon as an ideal place to locate ambitious enterprises, providing access to infrastructure and technologies, immersed in a rich culture and heritage, whilst offering an affordable and superior quality of life.
The approach ensures that limited resources are targeted efficiently. In line with strategic priorities set out for each town, enabling infrastructure is put in place, growth sectors are promoted and local plans aligned to this strategic approach.
It profiles the 6 main towns in the county, highlighting their strengths and targeted growth sectors (one per town):
• ICT/Technology
• Life sciences
• Agri-food
• Tourism & Arts
• Creative Industries
• Culture & Heritage
Roscommon is uniquely positioned, containing the geographic centre of Ireland. Situated adjacent to industrial clusters of international acclaim, new opportunities are fostered through enterprise space, proximity to regional hubs, third Level institutions/research & innovation, skills, talent and networks to foster growth.
The blueprint serves as a guide for decision making by the local authority to plan enabling infrastructure for enterprise development, ensuring benefits for the local community, enterprises and economic development stakeholders that benefit from the focused and aligned approach.
Resources needed
Access to enabling buildings, land etc to facilitate development.
Capital funds for individual projects - e.g. €1m- €4m per centre.
Local authority oversight, ideally with Full Time manager to co-ordinate initiative, foster individual projects, including funding, implementation and promotion.
Evidence of success
Approach has provided a strategic guidance to ensure a focused, co-ordinated and efficient approach is adopted locally, prioritising investment in smart sectors, building on local strengths.
Already, 35,000sq.ft of enterprise/incubation space is developed across 3 locations/buildings, targeting life-sciences, food and tourism sectors.
A further 14,500sq.ft of space is proposed to support creative sector in another town.
Enterprise tenants (X4) are secured in 2 locations (life sciences, food).
Potential for learning or transfer
As a local initiative, Invest Roscommon provides a focussed approach to foster the transition to smart sectors, targeting the strengths of individual towns in a largely rural region, in the context of limited resources to foster economic growth.
The approach ensures efficiency, rather than local competing forces, and provides a focus for strategic funding options, therefore avoiding duplication of resources in the rural county, by prioritising one growth sector per individual town.
Requirements for a successful initiative include:
• Committed local authority with a focused economic vision
• Community engagement to ensure buy-in of relevant stakeholders to embrace the approach
• Access to enabling infrastructure, land, buildings
• Access to finance, or successful funding bids under appropriate calls
• Ideally a management resource to oversee the initiative
• An overall branding approach could further enhance the initiative and provide benefits in terms of scale and critical mass.
Further information
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