DECEMBER

Winter Offer

From now to the end of March we're offering a great membership deal of just €100 + VAT per month for people living in the area and working remotely.

This provides great value even if you just want a change of scenery a day or 2 a week.  When you consider the cost of heating your spare room you might find that this deal pretty much pays for itself.

Shared Marketing & Booking System

We continue to work with the folks at The Atlantic Economic Corridor and hubs all along the Western half of Ireland to come up with a collective marketing campaign and an "AirBnB-type" website incorporating a booking system which will hopefully be rolled out in the next 6 months. This is very exciting as an individual hub like ours would have very meagre resources but collectively we can make a lot happen.

I'll be sure to post here when this is up and running.

Remote Working / Grow Remote

With the acceptance of remote working having been greatly accelerated by recent events, many more people are working from home which brings about benefits and challenges.  We wish to set up a Chapter of Grow Remote in Sneem to work in conjunction with Sneem Digital Hub with the following aims, through remote working:

· Help find employment for local community members

This is a blended approach of raising awareness of the companies hiring remotely, and helping people get trained up.

· Help repopulate the community

When employment is mobile, rural communities can compete on the things that matter. We hope to develop a “Sample Sneem” concept, a way to help people explore what it’s like to live in our community.

· Help remote workers engage locally

Remote workers can be our “hidden employed” and may suffer from isolation. We wish to focus on helping remote workers engage locally through events or meetups, albeit most likely virtually initially, under the circumstances in which we find ourselves just now.

· If you have skills and experience in work that can be conducted remotely, and are interested in finding out about remote jobs available …………

· If you are interested in playing a part in repopulating our area ……..

· If you are currently working remotely from the area and would be interested in meeting up with others doing likewise, whether from a mutual support or purely a social context ……

…. Please contact Aidan Murray

E-mail: Aidan.murray@sneemdigitalhub.ie,

Contact No.: 089 942 0098.

NOVEMBER

Enterprise Ireland Grant

We're very pleased to share that our application for Enterprise Ireland funding has been successful. This provides 80% of the investment required for vital works including the creation of privacy booths for sensitive Zoom calls etc., a more appropriate meeting room space to enable social distancing, a back-up generator to ensure any potential power outages don't prevent clients from working, an upgrading of our internet security and the provision of monitors to rent to our clients. This is an immense help in ensuring our offer remains attractive and meets the evolving needs of people working remotely.

As a virgin at applying for substantial grant aid I'm very grateful to Jerry Moloney & Catherine Hogan in Enterprise Ireland, as well as our own Kevin FitzGibbon for invaluable help and guidance.

Kerry Hubs Supplement in The Kerryman

The 10 hubs / enterprise centres in Kerry work together as much as possible and all our offerings featured in this month's Kerry Hubs supplement in the Kerryman. It was great to be able to collectively showcase what the county has to offer in terms of co-working spaces etc.

Training Offerings To Businesses In the Area

While our core remit is to reverse rural depopulation in the area with stable, well-paid jobs, we also strive to be an asset for existing businesses in the area.  We can provide training and coaching for local business owners, based on demand, whether though providing ourselves or acting as a conduit to organisations such as Kerry Local Enterprise Office, Enterprise Ireland & South Kerry Development Partnership.

Our own offerings at present include:

· Marketing Foundation Strategies

· Marketing Assets

· Time Management / Personal Effectiveness

· Principles of High Performance

· High Performance Leadership

· Continuous Performance Improvement (Lean Six Sigma)

· Business Performance Coaching

· Strategic Planning

If you have an interest in any of these areas, please let us know.

OCTOBER 

Fujitsu Job & Call To Action

We’re delighted that Fujitsu are currently advertising a role potentially to be based in Sneem.  With the rise in remote working meaning that many roles can be conducted from a head office, from home or from a co-working space, the reality is that such roes will be based here only if the ideal candidate is already living near here or wishes to move here.

This is why we put out an appeal to everyone to put us in touch with any professionals who might be interested in living and working down here, whether seeking a new role or with their existing role.

In either case we look to provide a “concierge-type” service whereby we can arrange accommodation for anyone wishing to sample Sneem and surrounding areas, set up property viewings, introduce them to people/ clubs / societies / schools/ creches etc. pertinent to them and any other way we can help them really.

In terms of IT professionals, and also Finance, HR etc. who might be interested in roles available down here, please get us in contact with them so we can look out for opportunities for them and introduce them to employers.

Lockdown

Back into lockdown until December but please feel free to contact us if you have any queries.

Conor Dawson

We are delighted to welcome Conor Dawson to the hub. Amongst other things he does, Conor teaches English to Chinese people. As he has not been able to return to China this year, he has been conducting his lessons over the internet from our video conferencing room of late.

SEPTEMBER

Ian Armstrong

Welcome to Ian Armstrong, who has made the jump to Sneem with his family for an improved lifestyle and to eliminate the commute.  With a son greatly enjoying school in Tahilla and a daughter in creche in Sneem, both areas are benefiting from the family’s move.  Coincidentally, like Owen, Ian also works in Fintech, as a Commercial Director.

Rental Properties

As the acceptance of Remote Working by employers and employees alike has accelerated, we are very keen to identify any properties that might be available to rent, as well as for sale.  While great rates can be achieved during the short high season with the likes of AirBnB and Shamrock Cottages, the virus has certainly inserted doubt over the reliance on such income.  

We’d urge such homeowners to consider the potential benefits of year-round rentals such as guaranteed, year-round income, someone else putting the time and money into heating and looking after your property outside of season, no turnaround pressure, having to do the cleaning, or paying someone else, between lets, not giving a sizeable proportion of your income to a third party, no dependence on a strong economy driving tourism etc.

Please come talk to us if this is something you’d like to consider.

AUGUST

Really busy again for the month.

Summer Review

The great vibe in the hub continues due to having such a variety of people with different business types and roles …

We’ve had amongst us CEOs, solicitors, finance directors (& other types of directors), project and programme managers, investment managers, financial analysts, a global environmental manager, a facilities lead, a communications manager, engineers, underwriters, IT specialists, Chief Information Officers, customer insights and client engagement leads, a compliance manager, partners in legal firms, one of the country’s leading neurologists and professor in Beaumont, Chief Product Officer, Business Analysts, a HR manager etc.  

The variety of roles has been fascinating as has been the spectrum of employers for which our “hot-deskers” work, spanning pharmaceutical, banking, investments, construction, charity, insurance, tech, education, advertising , weddings, food manufacturing etc.

From a geographical perspective we’ve had people form Cork (a lot!), Dublin, Limerick, Tipperary, Wicklow, Kildare, Clare, Meath, Switzerland, London, Edinburgh, South Africa and Spain, amongst others.

Thankfully the feedback has been exceptionally positive.  One result of this demand being far higher than anticipated is that we really need to extend our capacity to provide space for people to have private calls, so that will be a key priority for us by next Spring.

All in all we’ve had 66 people work from the hub over July and August and they have given a great shot in the arm to the hub and the village.

New Board Members

We’ve brought in 2 bright, young, local professionals to the Board with Julie O’ Sullivan and Aisling O’ Sullivan kindly coming on board.  Welcome on board Aisling & Julie  …..we’re all looking forward greatly to working with you.

Housing

We currently have a list of 16 properties in the area for people considering moving here and we are keen to know of any others available.  There are over 350 hubs in the country at the moment so there is huge competition and housing availability is a critical factor for people looking to move from the city to a rural area.  This is on top of the many houses set to come on stream through the forthcoming completion of both the Árd an Oir and Atlantic Gateway developments.

Website

Almost 1,000 website visits again which is very encouraging.

JULY

AEC / DRCD Helping Us Provide Safe Working Environment

Ensuring that a workplace is safe can be a complex and costly endeavour in Covid times. The Department of Rural & Community Development and Atlantic Economic Corridor initiated a hub outreach scheme which has been a fantastic help in substantially funding our set-up costs including the likes of desk dividers, wall and floor signage, sanitiser dispensers, sanitiser, sanitising stations, face masks, gloves etc.

They also helped us out in extending our wi-fi coverage, installing high window openers and some social media advertising over future months. We are very grateful to AEC and the department, as well as Kerry County Council, who dispensed the funds.

Re-opening

Back in business with a bang.  We pretty quickly had to re-configure our desk layout.  By our second week back we were averaging 10 desks a day and by our third full week in July we had up to 18 people, including 2 working from the kitchen at times and unfortunately had to turn people away on occasion.  We didn’t distribute leaflets as planned and we eventually had to hold off on the social media as we didn’t want to create demand we couldn’t service due to social distancing requirements.

It’s great, if sometimes challenging, to have such a buzz around the hub and particularly pleasing to have up to 18 people per day going into the village for their coffees, lunches etc.

Road signs

We’ve dusted down the road signs and Joe and his team erected them for us on the Killarney & Waterville roads.  Lots of feedback from clients that the signs are generating awareness and interest.

Website

Almost 900 unique website visitors, demonstrating the increased interest.

JUNE

Re-opening Preparation

Though our doors remain closed we have been working very diligently in preparing the hub for re-opening in the context of Covid.  We have implemented over a dozen sanitisation stations, a one-way travel system for entry and exit of the building, desk dividers, social distancing measures, new cleaning protocols, covid policies and procedures etc.

Thanks To Hallisseys, Kingdom Printers and Mobility Genie along with Joe Murphy and his team for enabling us to be as Covid-prepared as we can be.

Now, the question is, will anyone want to come under these circumstances?  Maybe we’ll get 5-6 peope hot-desking per day on average?

Owen O’ Byrne

Welcome to Owen O’ Byrne who has moved down from Dublin with his family.  Owen is a perfect example of the type of professional person we are looking to welcome into the local community.  He spent time in the hub last year and has since moved to Blackwater.  He, his wife and 3 children have wished to move to Kerry for many years and the availability of remote working as an option has finally enabled this dream to become a reality.  Owen is Chief Product Officer with Fire.com who provide banking services for SMEs, corporates and fintech companies.

Website

News of travel restrictions being lifted and the commencement of a social media campaign right at the end of the month led to website visits approaching 400 in June versus 120 – 200 in previous months.

APRIL / MAY

Lockdown

While we’re still working away from an administrative perspective, on a part-time basis, our doors unfortunately remain closed for the safety of everyone.

New Video Footage

We are delighted that Community Finance Ireland chose Sneem Digital Hub as one of the projects they chose to feature in their own promotional campaigns. They visited us on a fine Winter's day and we were very pleased with what they produced including these 2 videos of 30 seconds and 90 seconds. CFI were of immense help to us in providing bridging finance, thus enabling us to get the building fit for purpose and we would highly recommend them.

MARCH