CEO Brendan Ennis named ‘Ambassador of the Year’ at 2022 Co Wexford Business Awards

/in /by

CEO Brendan Ennis named ‘Ambassador of the Year’ at 2022 Co Wexford Business Awards

Chief Executive of Wexford Enterprise Association, Brendan Ennis, was recently named ‘Ambassador of the Year’ at the 2022 County Wexford Business Awards hosted by County Wexford Chamber of Commerce at a Gala ceremony held last Friday evening in Clayton Whites Hotel Wexford.

The ‘Ambassador of the Year’ Award, sponsored by Zurich, is a new award that celebrates individuals who have made valuable contributions to the development of the business, community, social and/or environmental landscape of County Wexford, at a region, national, or international level.

The award came as a complete surprise. Accepting the award on the night Brendan said, “I’d like to sincerely thank all County Wexford Chamber of Commerce Team for reminding us of the importance that person- to-person contact has in our lives. The County Wexford Business Awards is testament to that. It is great to meet so many old friends again and make some new ones as well. I’m honoured to accept the Business Ambassador award on behalf of all the Wexford Enterprise Association team, without whom none of what we do would be possible.

While this award recognises recent and past achievements, I will use the award over the next twelve months to continue to promote Co Wexford as a premium business and lifestyle location and highlight Co Wexford businesses both home and abroad. Wexford Enterprise Association’s goal under the Chairmanship of Eleanor White, her Board and myself, is to open new international channels and networks for both Wexford and Southeast based companies, by building on recent visits by Pat Wilson and his team from the Georgia Department of Economic Development as well as His Excellency, Akhilesh Mishra, Indian Ambassador to Ireland. In addition, we are ramping up our activities in relation to the development of the relationship between Co Wexford and the Southeast with Savannah and Southeast Georgia through our shared international Tradebridge Program.”

Georgia Southern University (GSU) is currently opening their first International Education Hub in Wexford town and students, staff and a group of past students are currently in Wexford. Commenting on the presentation of this award, Dr Howard Keely, Director for Irish Research and Teaching at GSU congratulated Brendan and stated, “I am thrilled to see Brendan getting recognition for his dynamism, vision and work ethic that has been critical to the success of the Wexford – Savannah relationship.”

Brendan Ennis has been at the helm of Wexford Enterprise Association for more than 25 years and oversees the Social Enterprise, Social Advancement and Entrepreneurial Development divisions of the organisation which comprises Wexford Enterprise Centre (WEC), one of Ireland’s first and largest Enterprise Centres, Datagroup, a national supplier of document management services, Recycling 2000, manufacturers of animal bedding products made from recycled newspaper and TradeBridge, a Regional Development Programme connecting the regions of Southeast Ireland and South East Georgia, USA.

Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra and his wife Reeti Mishra pay a visit to Wexford Enterprise Association

/in /by

Wexford Enterprise Association (WEA) had the pleasure of welcoming the Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra and his wife Reeti Mishra on their very first visit to Wexford. The Ambassador and his wife were met by WEA Past Chairman Philip Scallan and WEA Vice-Chairman Colin Browne to learn more about the independent, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to creating social enterprise to drive social and entrepreneurial change. The visit lasted over an hour and included the opportunity to share the story of WEA and to learn more about the Ambassador’s vision for India’s potential contributions and opportunities in Ireland.

The Ambassador and his wife were then taken on a tour of Wexford Enterprise Centre and Datagroup, both of which are part of the wider Wexford Enterprise Association and also includes Recycling 2000 and TradeBridge. On their tour, they were introduced to Willie Devereux of Scúp Gelato, a locally-owned, family business which already has a thriving export market for their award-winning product.

Hosting the visit, Past Chairman Philip Scallan commented, “It was an immense pleasure to meet with the Ambassador and his wife who understood well what our organisation is trying to achieve. Through our mutual conversation, we realised that we shared many of the same aims and values for our community. Our all too brief visit concluded with the agreed desire to continue our dialogue about ways we may be able to collaborate together in the future.”

Vice-Chairman of WEA, Colin Browne, is also Senior Director International Operations at Microsoft and through this role has a great understanding of how the two countries can and have benefited from each other’s resources and values. “I was privileged to have this fantastic opportunity to share with the Ambassador and Reeti the history, impact and strategy of WEA, promote Wexford and talk about exciting opportunities for ideation and collaboration between Wexford and India.”

The opportunity to meet was facilitated by Calodagh McCumiskey of the Well-Being Company, Spiritual Earth, based in Wexford Enterprise Centre.