John O’Connell of CW Applied Technology in Shannon has been named All-Star Clare Businessperson of the Year 2021 by the All Ireland Business Foundation.
The Accreditation is an outstanding achievement for John O’Connell as it recognises CW Applied Technology’s incredible product, the Muv-X UV Room Steriliser that helps businesses to fight back against the COVID-19 pandemic and its contribution to Irish businesses.
This is an independently verified standard mark for indigenous businesses, based on rigorous selection criteria. The Accreditation is overseen by the prestigious All-Ireland Business Foundation, whose adjudication panel is chaired by Dr Briga Hynes of the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick and Kieran Ring, CEO of the Global Institute of Logistics.
John O’Connell is an experienced Managing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the electronic design & manufacturing industry. He is a strong business development professional skilled in Sales, Quality Management, Six Sigma, Manufacturing, and Management. He is Governor at University of Limerick since 2012 and Vice-Chancellor since March 2018. He is currently Managing Director of CW Applied Technology.
CW Applied Technology (Shannon) Ltd is a wholly owned Irish company providing Contract Manufacturing and Design services to industry. The products and services of CW Applied Technology are of value to growth orientated and innovative individuals and organisations, which have a collaborative approach to problem solving. They work with individuals, SMEs and Multi-Nationals who have requirements for electronic hardware design and/or manufacturing. In 2020, they developed their own product, the Muv-X UV Room Steriliser to help businesses fight back against the COVID-19 pandemic and help protect their staff and clients.
Responding to the announcement, John O’Connell says, “We are delighted to receive this Accreditation. I say ‘we’ because I see this as another huge recognition for the achievements of our team throughout the last year. We won recognition and the ‘All-Star Innovative Product of the Year 2021’ Accreditation earlier this year following our response to the pandemic. We developed a Room UV Steriliser, originally developed in response to a request from the medical community but being supplied to hotels, restaurants, sports clubs, care homes etc now also.”
He adds: “It’s a chemical-free way of responding to the virus in rooms and offers businesses a way of not only making their premises safer but also being able to give customers/clients a strong sense of reassurance that no stone is being left unturned in ensuring a safe premises. Our staff have worked tirelessly throughout the past 15 months to deliver on this need at a time of crisis and this accreditation is fantastic reward and recognition for those efforts. We look forward to being able to celebrate it all very soon.”
Kieran Ring, Deputy Chair on the Adjudication Board said in support of the announcement:
“This certificate verifies that John O’Connell of CW Applied Technology has been named All-Star Clare Business Person Of The Year 2021. The Accreditation is in recognition of John’s outstanding contribution to the development & design of the Muv-X UV Room Steriliser. The unit can be used by anyone to support sanitising strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic & beyond. Furthermore, we wish to recognise John’s track record in establishing his global business from his Clare base. John O’Connell is hereby included
in the AIBF Register Of Irish Business Excellence.”
Dr Hynes said the Accreditation, which is now held by over 450 firms, is needed by the thousands of small and medium businesses which operate to their own standards, but have nothing to measure them by.
“We evaluate a company’s background, trustworthiness and performance, and we speak to customers, employees and vendors. We also anonymously approach the company as a customer and report back on the experience. The business goes through at least two interviews and is scored on every part of the process against set metrics”, she says.
The All-Ireland Business Foundation is a national body which accredits best-in-class Irish businesses as Business All-Stars. The Foundation also oversees the All-Ireland Business Summit while promoting peer dialogue amongst our members on an ongoing basis.
The process to select the next group of Business All-Star accredited companies has begun and further information is available at businessallstars.ie