Board of Management


STATEMENT FROM THE CHAIR – October 2021

Wexford Enterprise Association has grown from a resolve to do something within our community to help ourselves. We share a sense of place and therefore our aspiration is to provide supports and structures for all those who live in our geographical area so that we all have the opportunity to develop and contribute to the growth of our community.  Although Wexford in 2020 is not where it was in 1986 when I first joined the organisation, it is still faced with significant economic challenges, which in turn contributes substantially to the social challenges we face. Wexford’s infrastructure has developed radically over the years. Our population has grown too and is more diverse, which in itself brings its own challenges as well as its benefits.

Wexford Enterprise Association started from the ethos of job creation. However, since then we have evolved into an organisation that not only supports entrepreneurial development for others, but one that has also created our own economic enterprises of Wexford Enterprise Centre, Datagroup, Recycling 2000 and TradeBridge. It is these enterprises that provide the funding required to allow us to support our collaborative social initiatives. To date, we have made a modest, but welcome social impact on our community. But there is still much to do.
After 30 years, our journey is still in its infancy. We have laid the foundation blocks of enterprise, social and entrepreneurial development through our pioneering spirit. As a community, we still have a long way to go to make Wexford a place where people feel a true sense of belonging; a place where people can live a balanced lifestyle, earn a fair wage, have access to third-level education and make Wexford a place where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential. This requires pushing the boundaries of social enterprise even
further than we have in the past. We intend to grow the economic and entrepreneurial work we do so that we can continue to grow and fund our social agenda in partnership with other organisations who share the same vision.

As we continue to work to combat the pandemic, we must be able to adapt to our changing world and have the vision to support those whose creative ideas can enhance our community. Sometimes it is worth taking some risks. We haven’t always got it right, but we are very proud of the successful initiatives we have achieved over the past 30 plus years. Continuing to listen and respond to the needs of our community was and is still key. We need to care, and we need to be bold.

Ar Aghaidh
Eleanor White, Chair
Wexford Enterprise Association