Peter Casey on of the Dragons on the successful series Dragon’s Den is all set to inspire and audience next Thrusday in the next of Letterkenny Chamber’s “in Audience with…"series. Letterkenny Chamber are delighted to host an event with Peter Casey, MD of Claddagh Resources the company he founded in 1995 in Atlanta. Claddagh Resources is now a global recruitment and search business that places high level executives with some of the world’s largest and most influential consulting and IT firms. Peter who was born and brought up in Derry City moved to Australia after university where he founded a series of successful executive search and business support companies. Over his career, Peter has established successful businesses in three different continents. Claddagh currently operates from six locations worldwide including their European base outside Buncrana in Donegal. Peter Casey works personally with some of the most influential thought leaders in his client portfolio to personally advise them on selecting and recruiting highly motivated executives. Peter lives in Atlanta with his wife Helen and their five children and he divides his time between there, his family home in Derry and the Claddagh headquarters outside Buncrana. He travels extensively, working with a portfolio of blue chip clients worldwide. Since 2009 Peter has invested in commercial, residential and agricultural property in Ireland. In 2013 Peter was selected as one of the new Dragons on the hit RTE series The Dragons Den. Peter invested in three entrepreneurs and has been working with them to help them develop and grow their business. He found meeting with the Junior Dragons particularly inspiring and he believes the younger generation offers Ireland a bright future. Peter has a very strong personal interest in the value of education in empowering people to achieve their potential. Outside work he enjoys a game of golf and is part of a network of influential Irish Americans. Peter’s approach to business is simple. He likes to invest in people. John Watson, President of Letterkenny Chamber says “In this series of events so far we have been inspired by Sir Gerry Robinson and Jim McGuinness who have told their success and failure stories to enthralled audiences. Peter Casey’s approach may be different again but his deep interest in people will bring a whole new dimension to this conversation. Peter’s story covers continents, successes and failures, travel and home and this is a fantastic opportunity to hear him in conversation with our very own Chris Ashmore. We also hope to have Connor & Ronan McGarvey of Donegal Pens with us on the night. These boys have clearly inspired the Dragons and peter in particular. Business people like Peter and indeed these young men will we hope inspire others to enter into business in years to come. The event will be structured as a conversation and will be as interactive as possible.” Toni Forrester from Letterkenny Chamber says , “ We are delighted that we have been able to secure peter for this event. He is a very busy man and it’s a privilege to bring this event to Letterkenny. We are also delighted to be working with the Clanree on this event who are supporting us with sponsorship. We believe this event will appeal to business owners, employees, management teams and leaders from all types of organisations and also provides an excellent opportunity to network with other businesses.” Bookings are already coming in for this popular event that takes place on Thursday 23rd May at 7pm in The Clanree Hotel. The cost is just €15 per person. To book just contact Letterkenny Chamber on 074 9124866 or email reception@letterkennychamber.com .

Employment Response North West approached Letterkenny Chamber to get involved with the Job Shadow Initiative and it proved to be a very interesting experience as Toni Forrester, Chamber CEO explains. "We have been aware of Employment Response North West and support their initiatives so thsi was a perfect time to get involved in a practical way. We liked the opportunity of increasing our awareness of working with people with disabilities and this one day work shadow initiative was the perfect solution. It highlighted the difficulties that people with disabilities face in access employment but also our lack of knowledge. Frank Larkin who is himself a Disability Awareness trainer was the perfect match for the Chamber and we hope that together we can raise awareness of the scheme. Here Frank writes about his experience: "I was fortunate last week to get a wonderful opportunity as part of the Job Shadow Initiative through Employment Response North West. Helen Friel asked me if I would be interested in taking part in order to help them to highlight the initiative. I was to spend a day working in the Chamber of Commerce with Toni Forrester and her team. I jumped at the chance as I seen it as a win win situation. It was a chance for me to see what happens in the Chamber of Commerce, A chance to highlight the Job Shadow Initiative and a chance for the employer to have a person with a disability working there and for them to learn that it is not as daunting a prospect as it might seem, it was also a chance for me to highlight the work I do as a disability awareness and equality trainer. I learned a lot on the day and some examples of that are: their work with the North West 10k, their Community Employment Scheme and I was also working closely with Kelly who was on work placement from LYIT. I was not aware that it is the Chamber that issues Certificates of Origin to exporters and that was interesting to find out as it is a source of income for the Chamber. I got a real appreciation for the great work being done by the Chamber of Commerce and I can see that they are a vital link for their members particularly in difficult times like we are currently experiencing. I would highly recommend the Job Shadow Initiative to both employers and also to people with disabilities. It can be a vital first step to open doors and create opportunities that are mutually beneficial for all parties concerned. It is wonderful to see the Chamber getting involved because they in turn can inform their members of this type of project and hopefully in the future some of their members may also buy into the same type of opportunity. Finally I would like to thank Helen Friel for enabling me to be part of the initiative and also I would like to thank Toni Forrester and her team for the great day I had in their office where I was made very welcome." Frank Larkin is a Disability Awareness & Equality Trainer. He can advise businesses on Disability Awareness and is offering businesses and employers a free consultation session. To contact Frank Tel: 074 9176697 Mob: 0877405617 or email: frankl222@hotmail.com