Dear Member,   

As you are aware, I am leaving my role as SFA Director at the end of this week.  It has been my great pleasure to have led the SFA over the past decade.  It is a fantastic organisation and I am very proud of our achievements, but most of all I will miss you the members, who continue to inspire me daily in your entrepreneurship and innovation and sheer resilience. I wish you all every success in the future, and I know that the SFA will continue to go from strength to strength.  In particular, I would like to thank my exceptional executive team, who work tirelessly on your behalf, namely Linda, Louise and Ciara, and our Chair, Sue O'Neill and National Council, for their leadership and support.  The recruitment process for a new SFA Director will commence shortly and until the new appointee is in place, Linda Barry will assume the role of Acting Director of SFA and will take on the management of the association on an interim basis. Her direct contact details are tel: 01 605 1626 or e-mail: linda.barry@sfa.ie.

In this week's e-zine, we advise on the new Employment Permit Regulations 2017 signed into law.

Each week in the SFA e-zine, we will profile a different government support available to small businesses, in this edition we focus on Enterprise Europe Network, an international network which can connect you to millions of small businesses.

We bring you details of an SFA submission rejecting the proposed increase in employer contribution to the National Training Fund and a great offer to get your brand noticed this summer on RTE TV.

If you missed last week's webinar on how to get the most out of your SFA membership you have the chance to play it back. Register to attend the next Business Bytes on 10 May, focusing on how to take control of your business costs. There will be a preview of the SFA conference in this weekend’s Sunday Business Post, you can also still take advantage of the early bird 2 for 1 ticket offer. 

Book your place on one of the discounted training courses for SFA members in May and June. 

As always, we’d love to hear from you about any queries you may have, issues you wish to have raised with Government or other stakeholders and your ideas on how we can improve the business environment for us all. Please contact Linda directly on tel: 01 605 1626 or e-mail: linda.barry@sfa.ie or tweet: @SFA_Irl or visit: www.sfa.ie.

Kind Regards, 

Patricia Callan 

SFA Director