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The ‘Inaugural Professors In Conversation Series’ featuring newly appointed Business Professors at NUI Galway will continue on Wednesday, 20 November at 4:30pm with Professor Jonathan Levie, recently appointed Professor of Entrepreneurship and Regional Development will give a talk on ‘Entrepreneurship and Regional Development’. Hosted by the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics and Whitaker Institute, the event is free and open to the public.

Developing a balanced economy in Ireland requires the emergence of thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems throughout Ireland, not just in Dublin. Drawing on 35 years of working with a diverse range of national and regional entrepreneurial ecosystems across the world, Professor Levie will discuss how diverse regional stakeholders can cooperate to enhance entrepreneurship within their region, including third level education institutes, financial institutions, corporates, local government, accelerators, enterprise agencies, and above all, entrepreneurs and business angels. He will also contrast the role of national government with that of regional ecosystem stakeholders. The talk will also outline plans for a new Centre for Entrepreneurial Growth and Scaling at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics.

Professor Levie will be in conversation with Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh, Entrepreneur and Independent Senator in Seanad Éireann.

Professor Alan Ahearne, Director, Whitaker Institute at NUI Galway, said: “Entrepreneurial firms are the engines of growth in any regional economy. They need to be at the heart of the regional development strategies for Galway and the wider West of Ireland region. Only by understanding the roles of various regional stakeholders and how they most effectively work together can we succeed in building an environment where entrepreneurial firms can prosper.”

Speaking of the event, Professor Levie said “I am very much looking forward to a lively discussion with Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh. NUI Galway has much to be proud of from an entrepreneurship perspective, from working with enterprise educators in schools to winning the EI Student Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in two out of the past three years, to our world class programmes in medtech business creation. But I am convinced there is more we can do across the campus and across disciplines, and beyond the campus to work in new and innovative ways with stakeholders across the West of Ireland.” 

The event will take place on Wednesday, 20 November from 4:30pm-5:30pm in Room CA110 in the Cairnes Building, North Campus, NUI Galway.

To book the event, visit: www.eventbrite.ie and search for ‘Entrepreneurship and Regional Development’ or https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/conversations-with-our-newly-appointed-professors-prof-jonathan-levie-tickets-80226941943.

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