Editor’s note: This commentary article was written by Paul Veale, senior vice president of IDA Ireland, the country’s inbound investment agency.
Ireland has a long track record of welcoming multinationals from Atlanta and the Southeast, but a confluence factors could result in an even stronger pull this year for growth-minded U.S. companies as the world recovers from the pandemic and as Europe enters the post-Brexit era.
Fortune 500 companies like Coca-Cola and UPS have paved the way to Ireland over the last couple of decades, helping forge connections, minimize unknowns and encourage a full pipeline of talent.
But smaller companies in complementary sectors are now seeing what their larger peers have long known: Ireland offers an unrivaled mix of pro-business policies and strong government support for business.
Both aspects have been vital in helping stabilize the economy and put it on the road to recovery since the pandemic began. In fact, the companies supported by IDA Ireland, the country’s inbound investment agency, have shown remarkable resilience, increasing employment by 3.6 percent last year.
Much has changed in the world since our team visited Atlanta for 2020 Georgia Technology Summit last March 3-4.
With the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, Ireland offers a base to sustain access to the single market, helping businesses minimize uncertainty and grow their operations.
Ireland is now the only English-speaking, common-law jurisdiction fully integrated into the European legal order. Increasingly, companies from Atlanta and other parts of the Southeast are choosing Ireland as a base for international operations and customer support.
Why Southern CEOs Pick Ireland
ClickDimensions is a good example. It’s an emerging, fast-growth company from Atlanta that needed a European center for customer support and was drawn to Ireland as a prime location to create a diverse team reflective of its customer base.
Establishing its EMEA headquarters in Cork, ClickDimensions has since grown its Irish presence to nearly 40 staff in the areas of business development, customer support and engineering.
“Through our global presence, we help marketers worldwide create great experiences using Microsoft technology,” says Mike Dickerson, CEO of ClickDimensions. “We chose to open an office in Cork, a cutting-edge and forward-thinking city that mirrors who ClickDimensions is as a company, so we can better serve our EU customers and partners and ensure that they get the most out of their relationships with us.”
Tampa-based ReliaQuest opened a new office in Dublin – its first location outside the U.S. – as part of the growing cybersecurity cluster in Ireland. The company now employs 40 people in Dublin, with planned expansion in its Security Operations Centre, including security engineers, analysts and content developers.
“We opened our Dublin office due to the strong talent, accessibility and collaborative spirit felt throughout Ireland – and our sentiments have only strengthened over time. Our focus has always been to achieve great cybersecurity outcomes for our customers and Dublin will continue play a pivotal role as we expand further into Europe,” says ReliaQuest CEO Brian Murphy.
Despite the constraints of the pandemic and other global challenges, momentum has continued to build over the last 12 months as an additional six companies from Georgia and Florida have established locations in Ireland. Two Florida-headquartered companies, Reva and ThreatLocker, announced just within the last month they are establishing operations in Ireland.
Complementary Tech Scenes
Looking ahead, in addition to cybersecurity, the hottest sectors for growth in Ireland from the Southeast U.S. are shaping up to be those requiring highly sought-after tech talent in areas such as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).
In Ireland, a collaborative industry/academic approach to research has helped put the country’s research and technology centers in a leading position for AI talent.
A LinkedIn study recently found that Ireland has the highest ratio of AI professionals in the EU, and the World Economic Forum also has identified Ireland as an AI Rising Star for its solid talent base and scientific excellence in AI research.
This offering complements the industry strengths of the Southeast in telecoms, logistics and payments, further reinforcing Ireland as an appealing environment for international expansion.
As the international business community evolves to meet the demands of these unprecedented times, Ireland is very much open for business with a thriving ecosystem of innovation tailor-made to help companies achieve their goals for international growth and expansion.
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Paul Veale is a Senior Vice President & Director with IDA Ireland. Paul is responsible for leading and managing the IDA teams in Atlanta, Austin and Chicago, and previously held leadership roles for IDA Ireland in New England and Ireland. IDA Ireland is the Irish government agency responsible for the attraction and retention of inward foreign direct investment into Ireland. For more information please visit: https://www.idaireland.com/
Contact IDA Ireland in Atlanta here.