18/11/2016 - Early success stories for Ireland NW delegation in US

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Mark Campbell from Randox Ltd participating in meetings this week during the North West delegation’s visit to Massachusetts which was jointly led by Donegal County Council and Derry City Council.

Ireland North West delegation, who are in Boston this week as part of a cross border joint collaborative, is celebrating early success with a number of its companies making positive leads towards market entry into Massachusetts.

The delegation, which includes Derry City and Strabane District Council, Donegal County Council, has been in the US this week along with 17 local businesses and participating organisations such as Udaras na Gaeltachta, Ulster University, Letterkenny Institute of Technology and the North West Regional College, to promote the region for investment.

The delegation has also made commitments to strengthening its economic development partnerships through a soft landing program so it can act as a catalyst in assisting Massachusetts companies planning their market entry into Europe.

GoWalkTalk, one of the businesses who travelled with the delegation and who provides game changing solutions for assisted living and homecare providers, announced plans today to operate out of Boston.

Tony McIntyre from GoWalkTalk exploring business opportunities during the North West delegation’s visit to Massachusetts this week which was jointly led by Donegal County Council and Derry City Council.

Tony McIntyre from GoWalkTalk says the great programs like Mass Challenge, Boston Life Sciences made the city an obvious choice to create 12 to 15 jobs and make Boston the company’s gateway to the rest of the US. While earlier in the week Gartan Technologies from Donegal, who specialise in scheduling and payroll solutions for the emergency services sector announced a joint partnership with US firm Adashi Systems.

O’Neill’s, Ireland’s largest sportswear manufacturing company, are also pleased at the success of the visit and are following up on a number of very positive leads with a number of colleges and universities in Boston who are interested in their quality performance playing kits.

Martina Rodgers from Northbound Brewery, a family run craft brewery, based at Eglinton says the visit has given her a greater understanding of the supply chain and she is very excited about the contacts she has made. The next steps will be following up on those leads and connections to develop them further.

Representatives from all the 17 companies who travelled as part of the delegation availed of the opportunity to meet and engage with US businesses, agencies and distributors during their five day trip and will over, the coming weeks and months work to build and develop those relationships.

Killian O’Kelly from Irish Gap Year participating in meetings to explore the possibility of creating synergies and business linkages during the North West delegations visit to Massachusetts this week which was jointly led by Donegal County Council and Derry City Council.

Another key success of the trip is the increase in educational linkages with colleges and universities in Mass including Harvard and representatives from the Ulster University, the North West Regional College and LYIT.

John Kelpie, CEO with Derry City and Strabane District Council says the delegation has been very proactive in promoting the North West as a very attractive location for international business partnerships thanks to our hugely talented skills base, competitive operating costs, advanced telecommunications infrastructure and excellent education and business linkages.

“We are investing multi-millions of pounds on our road, rail and air infrastructure and connectivity over the next five to 10 years. This significant planned growth will see the expansion of our university, the development of a graduate medical school and major redevelopment of the city sites including investment in housing, office and retail space and leisure service provision. We are very committed to build on our existing strengths in terms of our youthful and well educated population, our talent and creativity and skills base, to promote ourselves as a city and region that is scaling the ladder of success and open for business.”

Seamus Neely CEO with Donegal County Council says feedback on what Ireland North West has to offer has been very positive. “People here in the US are very excited about our sales pitch and what we have to offer. They see the success of our collaborative working, our unique location and our very competitive offering. They recognise that Ireland North West is the real deal and ready for their investment. “

John Kelpie concluded that the visit is part of ongoing relationships that the Councils and partners are continuing to build in the US. “The benefits of these linkages and engagements are not always immediate and take time to build and develop. This visit has been extremely positive and I am very confident it will have real and long-term benefits that will allow us to deliver on our pledge of Making It Happen.”