Mission Statement

The objective of OiM is to enhance the spirit of enterprise and employment, leading to the establishment of new business ventures in the Athlone area. By facilitating  access to mentoring and advisory services, we assist in establishing new enterprises or sustaining employment in existing businesses. We provide access to funding for enterprise clients. 

History

Athlone Community Taskforce (ACT) was established in 1992 with community donations of €430k to encourage enterprise and employment and fight the dependency culture. Over the past 20 years, ACT has secured €13m in public and private donations to provide support for employment creation and run enterprise programmes. Approximately 5,000 people have benefited from these initiatives, and individual and family lives have been transformed as a result.

ACT embarked on an ambitious initiative “Opportunity in a Million” (OiM) enterprise project in 2013. 55 Volunteers are giving of their time to provide encouragement, mentoring and evaluation of potential enterprise projects.

Important OiM Facts

118 Project promoters sought/availed of OiM support since it was launched in November 2013.

100 people are committed to making weekly donations.

OiM approved 4 funding applications which assisted with job creation.

3 Athlone businesses provided FREE space to new enterprise projects.

101 Jobs provided from OiM supported enterprise clients.

One OiM client approved for New Frontiers programme.

An OiM client won the Young Innovator award at the ploughing championship.

One OiM client awarded Best Young Entrepreneur of the year.