Some 100 Irish entrepreneurs will travel to Boston this weekend for the annual EY Entrepreneur of the Year chief executive retreat for what is being described as the largest unofficial trade mission to leave this country.
The theme of the retreat is “Building a Business Legacy”, which will focus on scaling a business and on equipping entrepreneurs with the knowledge to take their companies to the next stage of development.
The delegation includes the 24 finalists in this year’s entrepreneur competition and alumni from the past 19 years of the event.
While in Boston, the entrepreneurs will hear from speakers including Brian Halligan, founder and chief executive of software company Hubspot, Stephen Kaufer, founder and chief executive of travel website TripAdvisor, Dr Pádraig Moloney, senior scientist at Lockheed Martin, and Sam Kennedy, president of Fenway Sports Management, owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool football club.
The mayor of Boston Martin Walsh will welcome the entrepreneurs to the city and they will also have sessions with academics from Harvard and MIT universities.
Invaluable insights
Commenting on the visit to Boston, Kevin McLoughlin, lead partner for EY Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY), said: “This trip gives our 2016 finalists as well as the EOY community the opportunity to learn from top entrepreneurial talent and gain invaluable insights, which will support their continued business success for scaling, funding and talent acquisition.
“With more than half of the 450-strong EOY network doing business with one another, the retreat is one of the key events in this 10-month development programme where long- lasting new business opportunities, partnerships and friendships are formed.”
Ireland has strong trading links with Massachusetts, exporting $1.6 billion worth of goods there in 2015, which made it is the second-largest US state for exports.
“Massachusetts based companies account for 14,000 jobs here and Ireland is the sixth largest exporter and 11th largest importer to Massachusetts,” said Mike McKerr, EY Ireland’s managing partner.”
Learn from best
“This heritage and Ireland’s business reputation presents a significant opportunity for these companies and we look forward to introducing our EOY community to some of Boston’s pre-eminent business leaders and academics so that they can learn from the best and take their businesses to the next stage.”
The EY Entrepreneur of the Year programme is supported by Enterprise Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland, with The Irish Times and Newstalk as media partners.
