Work has started today on a massive 20,000 sq ft extension to Letterkenny’s CoLab Building which hopes to create dozens of new start-up jobs.
Diggers have moved onto the site at the LYIT to start the new building which will house scores of new small businesses.
The extension was delayed due to objections by local residents but An Bord Pleanala gave the green light for the project.
The extension will double the size of the CoLab which boasts a number of local businesses including 3D Issue, SendMode, KeyedIn Solutions, Safetech and Donegal Daily.
More than 100 people are currently employed in start-up businesses in the CoLab and management hope that will double when the extension is complete.
A number of start-up businesses have already booked offices in the new building.
The extension is part of a partnership with the North West Cross Border Region Group, the Northern Ireland Science Park and Ilex in Derry.
The aim is to set up a regional Science Park campus, modeled on the highly successful development in the Titanic Quarter in Belfast which would provide a significant boost to the northwest economy
More than €80m euro has been spent developing the LYIT campus in recent years.