Atlanta and Savannah may be losing an economic boost from St. Patrick’s Day parades for the second straight year, but Georgia’s relationship with Ireland can be easily seen as a net positive even amid the pandemic.
A country with a population smaller than metro Atlanta’s, Ireland nevertheless makes a big splash locally. It ranks among Georgia’s top 10 international partners by job creation, with more than 6,800 Georgians owing their employment to Irish-owned firms. Nationally, Ireland is the U.S.’s ninth largest investor, contributing $225 billion in investment stock that underpins more than 110,000 jobs.
Many of the Georgia jobs lie with CRH Americas, the building materials giant has its U.S. headquarters in Dunwoody. But nimbler, fast-growing tech companies in the fintech sector and beyond have been steadily adding to the total.
Enterprise Ireland, a government-backed venture investor that supports Irish innovators as they grow globally, backs companies with 40 Georgia-based facilities that employ more than 2,300 people.
Sysnet Global Solutions has been one of the fastest-growing: the managed-services provider for fintech and cybersecurity companies made an initial investment in Brookhaven in 2017 promising 500 jobs.
Watch the full St. Patrick’s Day celebration below:
That has been followed by a string of acquisitions that have grown the local headcount, with another 150 jobs on the horizon. Irish fintech companies like WorldNet Payments and Umba as well as global software company FINEOS also boast operations in Atlanta, known for its pivotal role in the U.S. electronic payments sector.
Ciara O’Floinn, the new Irish consul general in Atlanta, used an Atlanta Journal-Constitution op-ed this week to outline the “complementary strengths” of the Southeast U.S. and Ireland, which go well beyond technology.
“Ireland’s success in investing in the South comes from our ability to leverage and transform our traditional expertise in areas such as our strong agricultural heritage, into modern global agri-tech, food-tech and food industries,” Ms. O’Floinn wrote. “This mirrors the development of Georgia’s agri-tech, food-tech and food sectors, which has created significant synergies for investments from Irish companies such as Kerry Group.”
Of course, not all of the activity is flowing in one direction: Atlanta companies have long been among the more than 750 U.S. firms that have made their mark in Ireland.
Leading the way were blue chips like Coca-Cola Co. and United Parcel Service Inc., followed more recently by tech giants like NCR, Equifax and First Data. Ireland is also a key node in the global pharmaceuticals supply chain, a fact evident in another acquisition that touched the South: ICON’s $12 billion purchase of Charlotte, N.C.-based PRA.
Paul Veale, vice president of inbound investment agency IDA Ireland, pointed to the country’s strong support for business and track record of bouncing back from hardship as signs of its readiness to welcome U.S. firms’ post-pandemic expansions. Brexit hasn’t hurt, as it leaves Ireland as the only English-speaking, common-law jurisdiction with access to the European Union’s single market, Mr. Veale wrote in a Global Atlanta commentary.
“Increasingly, companies from Atlanta and other parts of the Southeast are choosing Ireland as a base for international operations and customer support,” he said, using Atlanta-based ClickDimensions as an example.
Coca-Cola Executive Vice President and CFO John Murphy, an Ireland native, said Coke has not only used its Irish presence to service the local market, but also to source best practices that have been used to innovate around the world.
“For us, Ireland is a hugely important piece of our global equation,” he said, expressing his gratitude for being able to follow in the footsteps of other Irish Coca-Cola executives like Neville Isdell and Iriel Finan, as well as Don Keough, the Irish-American president who established multiple Coke plants in the country and advocated tirelessly for Irish diaspora engagement until his death in 2015.
Mr. Murphy spoke during a virtual St. Patrick’s Day celebration organized by the Irish community Wednesday in partnership with the consulate.
The Irish Chamber of Atlanta and the Irish Network Atlanta were the main hosts of the event, which included musical performances, a reading of the winning essay from the St. Patrick’s Day contest and remarks from Consul General O’Floinn, Irish Ambassador Dan Mulhall and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Also on the call was IDA Ireland’s Atlanta vice president, Emma Mitchell.
To a person, the Irish representatives lamented the loss of in-person events and sought to set the stage for post-pandemic recovery.
Ms. O’Floinn noted in the virtual event that she had so far largely had to experience Southern Hospitality remotely, but that has made the welcome of the Irish community all the more impactful, she said. She knew of the heritage links between the South and Ireland, but the community’s present-day vibrancy has been a pleasant surprise, she said.
Ambassador Mulhall largely stuck to historical and cultural links in his brief Atlanta remarks. Before reading a poem by W.B. Yeats, he recounted the story of the city’s inaugural Irish Catholic Priest Thomas O’Reilly, who saved many Atlanta churches and its city hall from destruction during the Civil War. Atlanta’s current seat of government at 55 Trinity Avenue, which has a monument to Father O’Reilly, was lit up in green this year in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
In her remarks, Mayor Bottoms paid tribute to the holiday parade as one of Atlanta’s most highly anticipated annual events, noting that she will bring her “dancing shoes” if and when the celebration returns to the city’s streets.
“The strength of our relationship is easily reflected by our Irish neighbors who call Atlanta home. There is an Irish proverb that says a good friend is like a four-leaf clover — hard to find and lucky to have. I look forward to seeing our relationship with Ireland continue to grow and prosper.”
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