The Entrepreneur of The Year 2013 for Limerick County Enterprise Board has been revealed as Paul Collins of Design Pro, based in Castlemahon. Mr Collins was successful in the final judging stages and will now represent Limerick County in the final of the National Enterprise Awards which will be held on 7th November at Dublin Castle.
Design Pro designs and builds mechanical, automated and semi-automated machines for assembly and production lines and was established in 2004 by Paul Collins who studied mechanical engineering at Sligo Institute of Technology. On leaving college, Mr Collins worked with two of the major multinationals in the Shannon region, Molex and Kostal, where he gained experience in tool making and machine building.
Since starting in business, Design Pro have become a leading provider of precision automation and machine build services, with 32 client companies in the medical devices, pharma, electronics and automotive sectors. Design Pro have carved out a niche in the area of robotics and have recently completed the design and build of a customised robotic machine worth €1.5 million. They have an impressive list of blue chip clients such as Oral-B, ALPS, Molex, Tyco Electronics and Boston Scientific, and have strong international trade.
The awards scheme for micro-enterprises is organised nationally by the 35 County and City Enterprise Boards to recognise the outstanding achievements and enter-prise successes of small businesses across Ireland.