ACORNS business programme helps women grow their businesses
Business woman, Ciara Stanley took part in the ACORN programme
ACORNS is inviting female entrepreneurs from Carlow to submit their applications for the 12th cycle of the highly successful business development programme.
The programme supports women living in rural Ireland who are in the early stages of starting their own business. It has been supporting female entrepreneurs in rural Ireland since 2014.
Carlow entrepreneur Caitriona Cullen of Cullen Nurseries in Hacketstown completed ACORNS 6 and joins Ciara Stanley of Coppenagh House Farm as previous Carlow participants calling on businesswomen to join the programme.
The free initiative for early-stage female entrepreneurs is funded through the Rural Innovation and Development Fund by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). ACORNS, which stands for Accelerating the Creation Of Rural Nascent Start-ups, was developed by Fitzsimons Consulting.
Caitriona was a participant on ACORNS 6 and has also completed ACORNS Plus, a further development cycle. Cullen Nurseries grows and supplies native trees and hedging plants to a nationwide customer base of farmers, gardeners, homeowners and community groups across Ireland.
Caitriona says: “ACORNS has provided me with access to a network of wonderful businesswomen who champion the sisterhood, encourage and support start-ups, share their experience and knowledge and provide a safe, confidential space for us to express our concerns and fears. This network of women has been a powerful tool in my inventory.” Ciara Stanley from Tullow is something of a serial entrepreneur. She and her husband Robert have run Coppenagh House Farm, selling their own beef, pork, bacon and honey since launching the farm shop in August 2022. Coppenagh House Farm aims to bridge the gap between consumer and producer and showcase the couple’s working farm to the public.
Ciara says: “The support ACORNS participants gave to each other was invaluable, as were the connections and contacts made through the programme.” ACORNS is based on the belief that early-stage entrepreneurs learn best from their peers. Participants interact with each other in the monthly round table sessions, which are facilitated by a lead entrepreneur with first-hand experience of starting and successfully growing a business in rural Ireland.
The programme is available to early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland who have generated sales no earlier than the end of June 2023. Selection is on a competitive basis as ACORNS receives many more applications than there are places available.
ACORNS 12 will run from October to April 2027 and will include six monthly round table sessions, a briefing by various development agencies and an end-of-cycle celebration.
There will be no charge for those selected to participate in ACORNS 12, thanks to the continuing support of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the voluntary contribution of time by the leading entrepreneurs.
The deadline for applications for ACORNS 12 is midnight on 18 September. There are up to 50 places available. Those wishing to receive an application form should register on the website acorns.ie.
