Economy Minister announces skills and innovation support for social enterprises

Economy Minister Diane Dodds today announced skills and innovation support for social enterprises.

Diane Dodds pictured with (centre) Andrew McCracken, Finance Director at Crumlin-based social enterprise Transport Training Services, and Colin Jess, Director of Social Enterprise NI.

Eligibility criteria for the Department for the Economy’s Skills Focus and InnovateUs programmes have been extended to enable social enterprises to apply for support.

Highlighting the nature of the support available, the Minister said:

“Skills development will be a key part of the economic recovery and I have already announced a range of initiatives to help people and businesses access skills support.

“The Skills Focus and InnovateUs programmes enable businesses to access learning, fully funded by my Department, from the local further education colleges for upskilling and reskilling and to boost innovation. I am pleased that social enterprises, as businesses in their own right, will now also be able to access this support.

“I know there is demand within the local social enterprise sector for support of this kind and I look forward to organisations in this sector identifying opportunities to access Skills Focus and InnovateUs and engaging with colleges to take projects forward.”

Colin Jess, Director of Social Enterprise NI, welcomed the move:

“Social enterprises are always looking for ways to improve the services they provide and their operational efficiency. Building the skills base of the people who work in social enterprises is key to this.

“I very much welcome this announcement by the Minister that local social enterprises can now access Skills Focus and InnovateUs. Social enterprises will be keen to engage with these programmes and we as the representative body for the sector will encourage and help them to avail of this valuable support.”

More information on Skills Focus is available at: Nibusinessinfo website on Skills Focus

More information on InnovateUs is available at: Nibusinessinfo website on InnovateUs 

Notes to editors: 

1. Skills Focus is a post-employment training programme that is open to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 250 employees, with the aim of addressing the current and future skills needs of employers across Northern Ireland. The programme provides tailored skills provision, up-skilling and re-skilling for individual companies, including regulated qualifications at level 2 and above, accredited and industry standard qualifications.
2. InnovateUs is a fully funded, non-qualification based intervention, open to businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The primary aims of the programme are to facilitate small businesses in gaining the skills they need to engage in innovation activities and to enhance college relationships with local businesses.
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