Action Tuam was established as a non-profit organisation in 1990 to assist in creating employment in North

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, South

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

and

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

. Action Tuam is registered in Ireland with the Companies Registration Office (CRO). The organisation offers advice and industrial unit rental to start-up SMEs and entrepreneurs with business ideas with the potential to create employment in the West of Ireland.

History

The origins of Action Tuam date to the early 1980s and a government decision to close the

Greencore Greencore Group plc is a food company in Ireland. It was established by the Irish government in 1991, when Irish Sugar was privatised, but today Greencore's products are mainly convenience foods, not only in Ireland but also in the United Kingd ...

sugar factory at

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

. The sugar factory had been a major source of employment in North Galway, and then Archbishop of Tuam, Joseph Cassidy convened a meeting to discuss the issue of unemployment, at which a task group was formed. The original enterprise centre was set up in 1992 at Tuam Business Park. It attracted several small business, including

John Concannon John Concannon is an Irish businessman, philanthropist, and star of RTÉ's ''The Secret Millionaire''. A native of Kilconly, Tuam, Concannon is the founder of the JFC Group. He left St. Jarlath's school, Tuam, to work on the family farm. In 198 ...

's "JFC Manufacturing", now a multi-national operation. The group converted an old textile factory into industrial units, and the centre was officially opened in March 1994 by the then Minister for Enterprise and Employment

Ruairi Quinn Ruairi Quinn (born 2 April 1946) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Education and Skills from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1989 to 1997, ...

. The industrial units were later sold to tenants to finance expansion. In 2004 the group purchased the adjacent lands from the

Industrial Development Authority IDA Ireland () is the agency responsible for the attraction and retention of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) into Ireland. The agency was founded in 1949 as the Industrial Development Authority and placed on a statutory footing a year late ...

with a view to building a technology centre. The new Beechtree Business Park facility was constructed during 2010 and 2011 with some support from

Enterprise Ireland Enterprise Ireland is an Irish state economic development agency focused on helping Irish-owned business deliver new export sales. The aim of Enterprise Ireland is to help Irish enterprises to "start, grow, innovate and win export sales in glo ...

. To launch the Beech Tree Business Park facility, together with the Galway

County and City Enterprise Board Ireland's County & City Enterprise Boards (CCEBs) ran from 1993 to 2014. They were established in 1993, as companies limited by guarantee, during a time of high unemployment (15.1%) and limited opportunity for business. They were given statutory ...

, Action Tuam ran a business competition. A special student prize was also on offer to third level entrepreneurs. The €25,000 prize fund gave three companies an opportunity to expand their business.

References

External links

Beechtree Business Park
official website. Charities based in the Republic of Ireland {{nonprofit-org-stub