Chamber Awards 2019 Winners Q&A – Kildare Chamber
Pictured left to right are Siobhan Kinsella, President, Chambers Ireland, Allan Shine, CEO, County Kildare Chamber, Maureen Bergin, President, County Kildare Chamber & Colm Blake, Marketing Manager, Zurich Ireland. They join six other winning Chambers from the awards.
Following the 2019 Chamber Awards, Leona Murphy from Chambers Ireland caught up with County Kildare Chamber who were the overall winners, winning the title of Chamber of the Year
Could you tell us a bit about the two projects that were shortlisted for the Awards?
Our award entry was for the Event of the Year category was our Inaugural Kildare Chamber Ambassadors Luncheon where 33 Ambassadors to Ireland from across the world attended the event along with key stakeholders in Kildare. The luncheon provided the Chamber with the opportunity to promote Kildare as the location of choice for both existing and potential business enterprise.
Our award entry for the Local Authority Collaboration category was for Healthy Ireland Week 2018. We hosted an array of events throughout Kildare with Kildare County Council promoting Health and Wellbeing in the workplace. Funding for the week was secured through a Healthy Ireland fund.
What inspired you to organise these two projects/events?
Our Ambassadors lunch was an excellent platform for the Chamber to promote Kildare with Ambassadors to Ireland and also for key businesses in Kildare to network with said Ambassadors.
What does winning the Chamber of the Year Award mean to your Chamber?
A huge achievement that we were delighted to win. It has helped profile Kildare Chamber across the mid-east region and it is a great achievement for our membership as we pride ourselves on having a very active, inclusive membership. The national profile we received after winning the award has been excellent and we look forward to hopefully retaining the title next year!
What exciting projects do you have planned for the rest of 2019 and into 2020?
This year to date we had over 500 people attend our Health and Wellbeing symposium with a keynote address from Sir Ranulph Fiennes. We are leading a trade visit to Boston in October and are at pre planning stage for 2 further trade visits for 2020. Our Boston trade visit is the first of a 5-year commitment with visits to Boston.