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Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus marked 75 years in the air last year and 2012 could again be a standout in the event of another airline coming on board as an investor. The carrier that is most associated with Ireland around the globe posted red figures for the first quarter of the year, but has also attracted the interest of what could turn out to be a major investor.

 

Despite the quarterly figures Aer Lingus chief executive, Christoph Mueller, said the airline was now more upbeat about the future and that if current trends continued, overall 2012 operating profits should match that achieved last year.  And he was right to be optimistic.

Figures just released show that long haul passenger numbers – and that is a number that primarily relates to transatlantic services – increased nearly 13 percent in the last year – from 79,000 in May 2011 to 89,000 in May 2012, an increase of 12.7 percent.

Meanwhile, Abu-Dhabi-based airline Etihad recently purchased 2.987 percent of the Aer lingus shares, a move that is prompting speculation that it might make a bigger move aimed at buying the Irish government’s 25 percent stake in Aer Lingus.

Aer Lingus has held discussions with Etihad in relation to reciprocal code-sharing arrangements. The two airlines are also investigating the possibility of joint procurement opportunities. Other areas of co-operation being investigated by the airlines include joint marketing arrangements and the possibility of Aer Lingus flying routes to the Middle East.

Down the runway a bit, and assuming a buy-in, Aer Lingus could potentially feed Etihad’s hub in Abu Dhabi with connecting traffic for Asia and Australia. Similarly, Etihad could provide traffic for Aer Lingus’s route network. Etihad already operates a service linking Dublin with Abu Dhabi and, together with Aer Lingus, is the primary user of the new Terminal 2 at the airport.

Aer Lingus, once entirely owned by the Irish public through the government, is now owned by various companies as well as staff members. Rival airline Ryanair owns 29.8 percent, and along with the Irish government’s 25 percent this covers over half the airline’s share total.

Businessman Denis O’Brien owns three percent. The Irish government plans to offload its stake in Aer Lingus as part of its program of state asset sales. The timing of such a sale is still up in the air. www.aerlingus.com

Almac

If biomedical research and services are set to be one of the prime industrial in the 21st. Century, ALMAC has fortuitously picked its time for growth and expansion. It’s also in a good place Almac is a contract research organization based in Craigavon, County Armagh. The company employs about 3,300 in the North and U.S. and is thus a standout in the increasingly initial transatlantic relationship between the new Northern Ireland economy and America’s.

The company provides integrated drug development services, research, manufacturing, to about 600 clients. Almac’s research targets five main branches: diagnostics, sciences, clinical services, clinical technologies and pharmaceutical services. It was founded in 1968 as Galen by the late Sir Allen McClay.

 

Almac is involved in joint efforts with a couple of companies. It formed a deal with Hewlett-Packard, investing in the company’s test applications software, which will help shorten the time that a drug spends in clinical trials.

Almac has the most comprehensive range of services extending from research through pharmaceutical and clinical development to commercialization of product. The privately owned, financially stable company has a truly global reach. Over 600 companies worldwide, including all the relevant market leaders, use Almac’s services, testament to the company’s dedication to quality, innovation and efficiency. www.almacgroup.com.

Allstate

There are reasons why “you are in good hands with Allstate” – Irish ones. From its base in Northern Ireland, Allstate specializes in delivering high-quality, low-cost technology and business solutions to the Allstate Corporation.

“I believe business success comes down to the quality of your staff,” says Allstate Northern Ireland CEO Bro McFerran (who also sitson the Board of Invest NI).”Over the years the company has amassed a huge amount of talent and associated skills. These people have made a significant contribution to the success of the company.”

 

Employing staff in Derry, Strabane and Belfast, Illinois-based Allstate has been on a recruitment drive for extra staff in Ireland. CEO Thomas Wilson has vowed to topple State Farm as America’s leading insurer of homes and autos within a decade. For those who say that can’t be done, beware. Wilson’s most-hated business expression, he once told the Financial Times, is “it won’t work.” www.allstate.com.

Amgen

Biotechnology firm Amgen, is one of the world’s pioneering companies in bringing safe, effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing plant, to patient. The Ireland branch of the firm operates from Dublin, and provides drug therapies for cancer patients and those suffering with renal disease both as inpatients, and in the community. Amgen provides a nursing service to community patients, while the medical team continues to work with leading physicians from across Ireland on many clinical research programs.

 

Priding itself on creating value, not just for patients, but for staff and stockholders also, as an Amgen spokesperson explained: “We provide value by focusing on the needs of patients. Amgen creates a work environment that provides opportunities for staff members to reach their full potential. We strive to provide stockholders with superior long-term returns while balancing the needs of patients, staff and stockholders.”

www.amgen.com.

AON CORPORATION

Named for the Irish word meaning ‘one,’ Aon Corporation is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting. Through its 37,000 professionals worldwide, Aon readily delivers distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Its industry-leading global resources, technical expertise and industry knowledge are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries.

 

In 2008, Aon established a global Center of Excellence in Dublin, expanding its global analytic, product development and operating capabilities toward the goal of rapidly deploying new and innovative services to meet the changing needs of clients. Named the world’s best broker by Euromoney magazine’s 2008 and 2009 Insurance Survey, Aon was also voted the best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007, 2008 and 2009 by the readers of Business Insurance magazine. The iconic company is led by the legendary Irish American businessman, Andy McKenna of Chicago. www.aon.com.

Bank Of Ireland

What’s in a name? Well, quite a lot if the name is The Bank of Ireland (Banc na hÉireann in its Irish form). BoI has long been one of the leading Irish banks and despite the travails of recent years it remains a cornerstone of Ireland’s financial system and its monetary dealings with the wider world.

Historically the premier banking organization in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history, according to its web profile. At the core of the modern-day group is the old Bank of Ireland, the ancient institution established by Royal Charter in 1783 and to this day is the oldest bank in continuous operation on the island.

 

The Bank of Ireland is not, and was never, the Irish central bank. However, as well as being a commercial bank – a deposit-taker and a credit institution – it performed many central bank functions, much like the earlier-established Bank of Scotland and Bank of England. The Bank of Ireland operated the Exchequer Account and during the nineteenth century acted as something of a banker of last resort. Even the titles of the chairman of the board of directors (the Governor) and the title of the board itself (the Court of Directors) suggest a central bank status.

From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 until 31 December 1971, the Bank of Ireland was the banker of the Irish Government, but was not the central bank. This function was fulfilled by the Currency Commission, which was later superseded by the Central Bank of Ireland in 1942. The headquarters of the bank until the 1970s was the impressive Bank of Ireland building on College Green, Dublin. This building was originally designed by Edward Lovett Pearce in 1729 to host the Irish Parliament, and it was the world’s first purpose-built two-chamber parliament building. In the 1970s the bank moved its Headquarters on Lower Baggot Street until 2010

The Bank of Ireland Group provides a broad range of financial services in Ireland to the personal, commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors. These include checking and deposit services, overdrafts, term loans, mortgages, international asset financing, leasing, installment credit, debt financing, foreign exchange facilities, interest and exchange rate hedging instruments, executor and trustee services.

The bank operates telephone and online banking services for its customers under the name 365 phone and 365 online respectively. The telephone banking service was launched in 1996 and was formerly known as Banking 365. The online banking service followed in 1997 and was initially known as Banking 365 online. It also offers the Laser payment system.

The group markets and sells its products on a domestic basis through the most extensive nationwide distribution network in Ireland and its direct telephone banking service. The Group has built a market share among credit institutions in Ireland of over 20 percent of resources and loans outstanding. While being headquartered in Dublin, the BoI also operates in the United Kingdom, particularly Northern Ireland, where it prints its own banknotes in Pounds Sterling. In March 2011, during the Irish banking crisis, Bank of Ireland was found to be in need of an external €5.2 billion bailout. www.bankofireland.com.

BIMEDA

Originating in Ireland, privately-held pharmaceutical and animal health care manufacturer and marketer, Bimeda has emerged as a major force in the fiercely-competitive U.S. market.

Bimeda offers institutions, veterinarians, livestock producers, pet owners and horse owners one of the broadest and highest-quality branded lines of animal health and performance products available in the industry. Bimeda operates three pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in North America.

The company’s commitment to leading edge technology and quality production is evident in its Irish-based facility, the Dublin site being the most modern sterile intramammary plant in Europe. Bimeda has grown steadily and has a highly- educated, world-class workforce with wide experience of working in the Animal Health Industry across the globe. In 2009, Group CEO Donal Tierney was presented with the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award at the Index 30 Luncheon on Wall Street.

 

The company’s U.S. headquarters is in Illinois. Announcing plans to step up their involvement in the equine market in the U.S., Gavin Tierney, the CEO of the company’s American arm, has stated: “We believe the American market is a fantastic market, a growing market, and the biggest market in the world and we are going to be a major player in it in the years to come.” www.bimeda.com.

BNY Mellon

A global leader in providing financial services, BNY Mellon is active in over 100 countries worldwide and has over $22.1 trillion in assets under custody and administration. Its $200 billion Alternative Investments division is led by Dubliner Brian Ruane, who also serves on the board of BNY Mellon Financial Services PLC, an Irish bank. BNY Mellon employs over 1200 people in its operations in Dublin and Cork, providing a comprehensive range of services in asset servicing, corporate trust and depositary receipts.

 

BNY Mellon’s Pershing Securities International Ltd., also based in Ireland is a leading provider of clearing services to financial services organizations in the country. In October 2009, the Bank of New York Mellon received approval from the Irish Financial Regulator to establish a new banking entity there. Two years ago, the American Irish Historical Society in New York named BNY Mellon Chairman and CEO Robert P.

Kelly as its Gold Medal Honoree. The “P” stands for Patrick, a name given to him by his parents to mark his Irish ancestry and his date of birth: March 17! www.bnymellon.com.

CIE TOURS

When times get tough it’s a good idea to do business with the likes of a company that has been around for 80 years and has weathered turbulent waters before. Count CIE Tours in on this recommendation. With numbers of North American visitors to Ireland on the up, part of the credit for the increase can be laid at the door of New Jersey-based CIE Tours International, which is marking its 80th this year.

The anniversary, and the news that 2011 turned into a strong performance year for the company, combined as the centerpiece for remarks delivered at a lunch gathering in New York recently by company CEO, Brian Stack.

Stack noted that very few tour companies could actually boast of reaching 80 years in business. 2011, he said, had seen a 20 percent increase in the company’s escorted tours to Ireland and a rise of 18 percent in independent vacation bookings.

 

Though it is an Irish company, CIE Tours also sends its customers on tours to Britain and continental Europe. In the case of Britain, the company was able to report a 60 percent increase in escorted tours to England, Scotland and Wales.

Stack stressed in his remarks that part of the company’s success was due to the fact that it insisted that hoteliers and others apply the highest standards for the company’s customers and that those customers be treated as individuals on holiday, and not just be consigned to the category of being part of a large tour group.

Says Stack; “Over the years we have built up an enviable reputation for security and reliability with satisfied clients throughout North America. We are members of the American Society of Travel Agents and the United States Tour Operators Association. Both organizations ensure that all members meet stringent standards to protect the traveling public. In addition we set our own high standards for delivering excellent vacations with state-of-the-art luxury coaches, prompt and pleasant customer service, the best hotels, and carefully chosen visits and entertainment including the new and exciting Titanic Belfast Visitor Experience.”

Though its takes pride in its 80 years, the company is now most focused on the current year and the next one. work is well advanced on its 2013 vacation packages to Ireland. www.cietours.com.

CISCO

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco designs, manufactures, and sells networking equipment. The stock was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average on June 8, 2009, and is also included in the S&P 500 Index, the Russell 1000 Index, NASDAQ 100 Index and the Russell 1000 Growth Stock Index.

Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner, a married couple who worked as computer operations staff members at Stanford University, later joined by Erich Drafahl, founded Cisco Systems in 1984. The name “Cisco” was derived from the city name, San Francisco, which is why the company’s engineers insisted on using the lower case “cisco” in the early days.

As part of a massive re-branding campaign in 2006, Cisco Systems adopted the shortened name “Cisco” and created “The Human Network” advertising campaign. These efforts were meant to make Cisco a “household” brand.

Barry O’Sullivan, senior vice-president of Cisco’s Voice Technology Group (turnover last year $2bn), has played a key role in promoting investment in Ireland in conjunction with the Irish Technology Leadership Group over the past 24 months. He has now moved back to Galway from Cisco’s base in Palo Alto.

Cisco is to invest €26 million in its research and development center in Galway, creating 115 jobs, The investment, announced by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, will be made over the next two years and is being supported by IDA Ireland. Mr. Kenny described it as “most welcome news” for Ireland and the region. Said Kenny: “The decision by Cisco to expand its Research and Development capabilities here in Galway demonstrates the value of economic stability and Ireland’s position in Europe when it comes to our ability to attract the overseas operations of world-leading multinational companies such as Cisco,” he said. “Today’s announcement displays Cisco’s continued commitment to its Irish operations and staff.”

 

The U.S. multinational currently employs about 180 people in research and development and in its European customer “interaction” center at Oranmore. The investment will enable the Galway operation to move into new areas in communication and collaboration software technology, including desktop virtualization and real-time web communications.

Cisco is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of equipment for computer networks. It was valued at about €30 billion in 2010.

Its European president, Chris Dedicoat, has said that investment was part of the company’s growing commitment to Ireland. “Ireland is delivering exactly what it was expected to do and more,” he told The Irish Times at the Davos World Economic Forum.

The company established its presence in Galway in early 2007, having already initiated a financial asset management operation in Dublin, which currently employs about 100 people. www.cisco.com.

CITI

Based in the burgeoning Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Citi is at the very core of the new financial services cluster that Belfast is creating. The leading global financial services company has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries, providing corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management.

 

The company established a presence in Belfast in 2005 to support its capital markets trading activities in London, Europe and New York. It now employs staff in four areas: capital markets trade settlement and reconciliation, trading systems development and support, technology infrastructure design and support, and a broad range of legal and compliance functions supporting both front office and external clients.

Citi is expanding in Belfast and is the main tenant in the new Gateway Building in Titanic Quarter, which opened in late 2009. “The strength of the available skills base within Northern Ireland is backed by a strong educational system and has been borne out in our recruitment efforts,” says Cathy Munro of Citi. “We are confident such success will continue.” www.citi.com.

COWEN GROUP

Cowen Group Inc. is a diversified financial services firm that provides alternative investment management, investment banking, research, and sales and trading services through its two business segments: Ramius, LLC, a global alternative investment management business, and Cowen and Company, LLC, a broker-dealer business. Founded in 1918 by Harry Cowen and Arthur Cowen, Jr., the firm is headquartered in New York and has offices located worldwide.

Originally founded as a bond trading house, the firm expanded in its early years to include correspondent clearing and execution services.

As the firm grew, it developed a leadership position in railroad bonds and launched a research and institutional sales business. The firm expanded significantly in the 1970s in research and retail, Cowen and Company is the broker-dealer business of Cowen Group. Cowen and Company offers a range of investment banking services, including: equity and convertible debt financings, private placements of equity and debt, and mergers and acquisitions advisory services including strategic alliances, joint ventures, and restricted security sales.

 

Cowen and Company also provides clients access to proprietary research and institutional sales and trading services primarily in the healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, consumer, aerospace and defense, financial technology, REITs and alternative energy sectors.

Under the direct leadership of chairman and CEO Peter A. Cohen, the Cowen Group has recently established a base in Belfast with plans to expand its footprint in the city in the time ahead. www.cowen.com.

Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse was founded by Alfred Escher in 1856 under the name Schweizerische Kreditanstalt, or in English, Swiss Credit Institution. In 1942, it opened its first branch outside of Switzerland, in New York City. In 1988, it gained a controlling stake in The First Boston Corporation and in 1993, Credit Suisse Group bought Schweizerische Volksbank In 1996 the two retail banks were merged and renamed Credit Suisse. In 2000, it acquired the investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and, with it, an e-commerce software portfolio, including DLJ Direct, that it later sold to the Bank of Montreal.

 

In 2009, Credit Suisse was recognized as “Bank of the Year” by the International Financing Review.

In November 2011, CS announced to launch a new Algorithmic Index Platform to support the Quantitative Risk Management to provide their clients a tailored solution to gain efficient exposure to a range of systematic equity investment strategies. Credit Suisse is considered to be within the prestigious “bulge bracket” of investment banks. The firm earned accolades throughout the recent financial crises for prudent risk management and strategic allocation of capital. Credit Suisse International has a strategically important base in Dublin and plays a key role in the Irish Funds industry.

www.credit-suisse.com.

CVS

CVS is familiar to Americans for being that light at the corner that shines 24 hours a day. Being an around-the-clock operation the convenience store and pharmacy chain, which originated in the U.S. Northeast, has made use of the call-center concept and operates a center in Ireland. Former CEO, Tom Ryan, has stated that he considers “CVS” to stand for “Customer, Value, and Service”. In March 2012 CVS announced a landmark deal to invest in Northern Ireland. CVS Caremark Corporation is to set up an Information Systems Development Center in Belfast that aims to create 50 high quality jobs.

The joint announcement was made by Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster and Employment and Learning Minister, Dr. Stephen Farry.

A Fortune 50 company with approximately 200,000 employees, CVS Caremark, is the largest pharmacy health care provider in the U.S. The Information Systems Development Center will be a best practice centre for the development of leading edge software for the company.

 

According to CVS, CVS Caremark is “dedicated to helping people on their path to better health as the largest integrated pharmacy company in the United States. Through the company’s more than 7,300 CVS/pharmacy stores; its leading pharmacy benefit manager serving more than 60 million plan members; and its retail health clinic system, the largest in the nation with more than 600 MinuteClinic locations, it is a market leader in mail order, retail and specialty pharmacy, retail clinics, and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans.

As a pharmacy innovation company with an unmatched breadth of capabilities, CVS Caremark continually strives to improve health and lower costs. Find more information about how CVS Caremark is reinventing pharmacy for better health. www.info.cvscaremark.com

CYBERSOURCE

Two years ago Irish American online commerce pioneer Bill McKiernan greenlighted a $4.5 million investment in Cybersource’s facility in Belfast and sold the company he founded to Visa for $2 billion.

Based in Mountain View, Cybersource helps merchants accept online payments and provides security solutions. The deal gave Visa, the world’s biggest payment network, access to about 295,000 Cybersource merchants, including Google Inc., Facebook and Home Depot Inc. Cybersource is growing as consumers shift from cash and checks to electronic payments.

The company provides fund-management tools and assists merchants with riskier transactions in which credit cards aren’t present, including those conducted over the internet or telephone. The company helped customers accept $120 billion in online payments last year. “That’s about one of every four dollars spent online in the United States,” says Cybersource’s Irish American CEO, Mike Walsh. Cybersource announced its investment in a development center in Belfast during the high-profile economic conference of May 2008. Since then it has increased its commitment to Northern Ireland, announcing that it would inject an additional $4.5 million into the facility.

 

“The level of talent and energy our Belfast team has brought to the organization has exceeded our expectations,” said Mike Walsh. “As the team grows, it will play a central role in achieving the strategic objectives of the company.”

In March 2010, Bill McKiernan received the Irish Technology Leadership Group person of the year accolade in San José, California. In its testimonial, the ITLG credited McKiernan for being among the first people to create a site with a “buy” button after Cybersource was founded in 1994.

“But that was hardly the company’s only innovation,” the ITLG added. “Cybersource originated the concept of the Internet commerce suite which allows companies to outsource ecommerce transaction services on an as-needed basis, obviating their need to build and maintain costly and complex ecommerce infrastructures.”

Bill McKiernan dedicated that award to his grandfather, Patrick McKiernan, who arrived in New York from Leitrim in 1904 to build the city’s subways. A New Yorker who was raised in a housing project in Manhattan, McKiernan says investing in Ireland has been “incredibly gratifying” but stresses that the decision to invest has been made solely on business grounds.

“We are truly delighted by the talent we found in Ireland,” he adds. “We’re impressed by their commitment, their intellect, their creativity and had a great partner in Invest Northern Ireland who were invaluable to us in helping us to get started.” www.cybersource.com.

Dalradian Resources

There is gold in “tham-thar” northern hills and Dalradian Resources is determined to mine it. Dalradian Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based exploration company working to increase its portfolio of gold resources at its approximately 84,000-hectare Tyrone Project in counties Tyrone and Derry/Londonderry.

The project includes the flagship Curraghinalt mesothermal gold deposit, which has an NI 43-101 compliant measured mineral resource of 10,000 ounces of gold (0.02 million tonnes grading 21.51 g/t gold), indicated mineral resource of 460,000 ounces of gold (1.11 million tonnes grading 12.84 g/t gold) and an inferred mineral resource of 2.23 million ounces of gold (5.45 million tonnes grading 12.74 g/t gold).

 

To date, detailed exploration has been conducted on only a part of the company’s extensive license holdings, held by Dalradian Gold Limited, its wholly-owned subsidiary registered in Northern Ireland.

States the company: “We are pursuing our goal of expanding our resources with an active exploration program at the Tyrone Project.  We currently have six diamond drills in operation on the property.

“We are headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with offices in Belfast and Gortin, Northern Ireland. We are led by an accomplished board of directors and management team, who have decades of experience in mineral discovery and development. Dalradian takes a principled approach to doing business and seeks to balance the interests of our shareholders and employees with those of the communities in which we operate.” www.dalradian.com.

DUPONT

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world’s third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009. Its stock price is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

In the 20th century, DuPont developed many polymers such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kevlar, Zemdrain, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona and Lycra. DuPont developed Freon (chlorofluorocarbons) for the refrigerant industry and later, more environmentally friendly refrigerants. It developed synthetic pigments and paints including ChromaFlair.

DuPont’s trademarked brands often become genericized. For instance, “neoprene” was originally intended to be a trademark, but quickly came into common usage.

DuPont was founded in 1802 by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, using capital raised in France and gunpowder machinery imported from France. The company was started at the Eleutherian Mills, on the Brandywine Creek, near Wilmington, Delaware two years after his family and he left France to escape the French Revolution. It began as a manufacturer of gunpowder. The company grew quickly, and by the mid 19th century had become the largest supplier of gunpowder to the United States military, supplying half the powder used by the Union Army during the American Civil War. The Eleutherian Mills site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and is now a museum.

DuPont is a global science company that employs more than 60,000 people worldwide and has a diverse array of product offerings.[8] In 2005, the Company ranked 66th in the Fortune 500 on the strength of nearly $28 billion in revenues and $1.8 billion in profits.

DuPont businesses are organized into five categories, known as marketing “platforms”: Electronic and Communication Technologies, Performance Materials, Coatings and Color Technologies, Safety and Protection, and Agriculture and Nutrition. www.dupont.com.

DuPont’s Irish-based operation is in Maydown, County Derry/Londonderry. Maydown is an industrial zone and was the site of the first DuPont production facility in Europe. DuPont first invented Kevlar in 1965 and its Maydown manufacturing facility is one of only three places in the world where Kevlar is produced.

The DuPont site at Maydown is now the lead partner in the University of Ulster’s Biodiversity Action on Industrial Site project that aims to enhance biodiversity on land close to industrial activity. Du Pont has developed 116 acres of its Maydown site into wildlife habitats open to the public and a visitor center used by local schools. A spin-off company based at the Maydown site, Invista, now produces Lycra, while the DuPont factory itself remains a leader in the production of Kevlar.

In 2010, DuPont, which employs nearly 200 people at Maydown, celebrated its 50th anniversary at the site. www.dupont.com.

ELI LILLY

Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company with operations in three Irish locations. Eli Lilly’s global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company also has offices in Puerto Rico and 17 other countries. Their products are sold in approximately 125 countries. The company was founded in 1876 by a pharmaceutical chemist, Eli Lilly, after whom the company was ultimately named.

Among other specialties, Lilly was the first company to mass-produce penicillin, as well as one of the first pharmaceutical companies to produce human insulin using recombinant DNA, and today is the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of psychiatric medications.

A Fortune 500 corporation, Lilly is the 10th largest corporation by global pharmaceutical sales. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is a member of the S&P 500 stock index. Eli Lilly was one of the Nifty Fifty stocks that propelled the mid 20th century bull market.

Colonel Eli Lilly, a pharmacist and a veteran of the American Civil War, began formulating plans to create a medical wholesale company while working in partnership at a drug store named Binford & Lilly. His wife’s death from malaria a few years earlier influenced him to see a need for working capital. His first innovation was gelatin-coating for pills and capsules. Following on his experience of low-quality medicines used in the Civil War, Lilly committed himself to producing only high-quality prescription drugs, in contrast to the common and often ineffective patent medicines of the day. His products, which worked as advertised and gained a reputation for quality, began to become popular in the city.

In his first year of business, sales reached $4,470 and by 1879, they had grown to $48,000. He hired his brother, James, to take over sales in 1878. Other family members were also employed by the growing company, his cousin Evan Lilly was hired as a bookkeeper; his grandsons Eli and Josiah were hired to run errands and other odd jobs. In 1881 he formally incorporated the company, naming it Eli Lilly and Company. By the late 1880s he was one of the area’s leading businessmen with over one-hundred employees and $200,000 in annual sales.

Earlier this year, Eli Lilly announced a €330m investment in its facility in Kinsale, County Cork. The state-of-the-art plant is expected to be fully operational by 2016 and, at peak operations, will employ 200.

Eli Lilly opened its first production plant in Ireland in 1981 and carried out an earlier €300m expansion of its Kinsale facility in 2006.

The company already employs 700 staff at its Kinsale, Dublin and Sligo operations. The new plant will spearhead the manufacture of next-generation bio-pharmaceutical products. The Kinsale plant already produces market-leading drugs for the treatment of cancer, diabetes and schizophrenia. www.lilly.com.

FIRST DERIVATIVES

First Derivatives is a leading provider of products and consulting services to the capital markets industry. Focused on financial institutions that work cross-asset, often with multi-system and/or high volume trading activities, the Company scopes, designs, develops, implements and supports a broad range of mission critical data and trading systems across front, middle and back-office operations.

Incorporated in 1996, First Derivatives has served the capital markets industry since its incorporation. The Company holds a niche market position in terms of domain knowledge of capital market asset classes (equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities, etc), as well as expertise in leading financial services systems (such as Calypso, Murex, Opics, Summit, Principia, Opus, Wall Street, kdb+, etc). The Company continues to work closely with leading global financial institutions to enable client proprietary and 3rd Party systems cope with the demands of high volume, complex trading in an increasingly regulated market. This combination of domain knowledge and technical expertise in leading financial services technologies has motivated the Company to invest in developing its own product suite.

First Derivatives is a publicly held company, trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE FDP.L) and Irish Stock Exchange (IEX:GYQ.I). The Company is headquartered in Newry, County Down, from where it has established its research and development centre, its Capital Markets Competency Center and its near-shore support facilities. The company has continued to expand its service offering and now has operational bases in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia to service its global client base. It is recognized as one of the fastest growing capital markets service providers in the world. First Derivatives now employs over 450 employees worldwide.

First Derivatives’ distinct competitive advantage derives from its unique combination of knowledge of financial markets and expertise in financial services technologies. The Company believes that its consultants need to fully understand the client’s business requirements in order to produce the right technical solution. This saves our clients development time, and ultimately money.

The company is widely renowned for the quality of its service and our product portfolio and for our pragmatic and commercial approach. Our growth is the direct result of the importance we attach to our clients, understanding their businesses and building and maintaining strong relationships.

The company states; “Key to our market position is continuing our strong track record of profit growth and our international reputation for the quality of our services in our target sectors. We know that ensuring our people are well motivated, well rewarded and have the opportunity to develop their true potential is critical to meeting our varied client needs and our continued commercial success.

In 2010, First Derivatives posted a 45 percent rise in revenues and profits for that financial year. The good news prompted David Anderson, chairman of First Derivatives to say: “The substantial investment into First Derivatives, coupled with acquisitions made during the year, have increased our global coverage and extended our range of Delta software products. We are continuing to make a substantial investment in the development of the Group to ensure it is positioned for both short and long-term benefits to shareholders.”

Recently, First Derivatives bought US-based Reference Data Factory to add to its previous acquisition of Market Resource Partners of Philadelphia, named Irish American company of the Year by the Irish Echo in 2009. The 450-employee First Derivatives also picked up a further 25 per cent interest in California analytical database vendor Kx Systems. www.firstderivatives.com

HBO

Home Box Office, HBO, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner, under the operating subsidiary Home Box Office Inc. As of January 2012, HBO’s programming reaches 29 million subscribers in the United States making it the second largest premium network in the U.S. In addition to its U.S. subscriber base, HBO also broadcasts in at least 151 countries worldwide.

HBO’s programming consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original series, along with made-for-cable movies and documentaries, boxing matches, and occasional stand-up comedy and concert specials.

The company has Irish American roots through the Dolan family. In 1965, Charles Dolan, who had already done pioneering work in the commercial use of cables, won a franchise to build a cable system in Lower Manhattan in New York. The new system, which Dolan called “Sterling Manhattan Cable”, became the first urban underground cable system in the United States. Rather than stringing cable on telephone poles or using microwave antennas to receive the signals, Sterling laid underground cable beneath the streets of Manhattan – because the multitude of tall buildings blocked television signals. In the same year Time-Life, Inc. purchased 20 percent of Dolan’s company.

Dolan presented his “Green Channel” idea to Time-Life management, and though satellite distribution seemed only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time Life to back him. Soon afterwards, on November 8, 1972, “The Green Channel” became “Home Box Office”.

HBO’s flagship service airs, among other items, popular feature films, first-run films, boxing events and sports specials, original movies, original series, comedy specials and documentaries. HBO produces the hugely popular  “Game of Thrones” series which is filmed at Belfast’s Titanic Studios, employing 750 during every week of production. The network has just signed up for another series which it will make while working closely with NI Screen. www.hbo.com.

KANA

Kana is the last word in Service Experience Management and emerged on the Irish scene when it recently took over Belfast’s Lagan Technologies.

This transformed the Belfast base into KANA’s European Headquarters, allowing international firms to get the best out of their involvement with the U.S.-based company. Following the takeover, it was announced that KANA would create 109 “high quality” jobs in Belfast, planning to double the existing Lagan workforce. The CEO of Kana Software, Mark Duffell, has expressed joy at the Irish investment, stating: “We are delighted to be making this significant investment in Belfast, which becomes KANA’s leading international hub, serving the needs of our global client base across all the company’s functions.

“Although KANA counts half of the Fortune 100 companies among its clients, the company is keen to increase its European footprint. The new unit in Belfast will also help us to target the European market and will become the focal point for the development, deployment and support of current and new technology, creating global opportunities for our business and our employees.” www.kana.com.

NETWATCH

Irish political leaders and agency heads are constantly pointing to the number of jobs being created in the U.S. by Irish firms in recent years, this most especially when there are grumbles over U.S. corporations setting up shop in Ireland.

The latest example of the quid quo pro aspect of the transatlantic investment relationship was demonstrated earlier this year during the taoiseach’s visit to Boston.

Enda Kenny used the Boston visit to highlight the opening of a new office in the city by Irish security firm, Netwatch.

The office will serve as the Carlow-based Netwatch’s U.S. headquarters and will also serve as a springboard for the company as it expands its operations in North America.

Netwatch monitors 20,000 video camera for about 2,000 clients worldwide, and, according to a Boston Globe report, already has contracts with several customers in the Boston area, including the Massachusetts Port Authority. Netwatch, said the Globe report, has a temporary office in Medford and is currently looking for a permanent home in Boston. It expects to hire as many as 100 people over the next three years and invest $4 million in its U.S. expansion.

Netwatch chief executive, David Walsh, said the company chose Boston because of the strong cultural link between the city and Ireland, and because of the influence of former Boston Police commissioner, Kathleen O’Toole, who serves on the company’s board.

Walsh told the Globe that he hopes to draw from talent coming out of Massachusetts universities as the company expands. Netwatch has offices in Britain and South Africa, and plans to open a facility in Jordan.

According to Walsh, the technology that Netwatch uses to monitor real-time video sends out alerts when intruders enter a client’s property. The company can then inform police. “Netwatch is a prime example of the potential of Irish services companies to become multinational companies, creating jobs and wealth not only for Ireland, but also for Boston,” the taoiseach said at the Netwatch launch.

Walsh and company co-founder, Niall Kelly, began the company a decade ago after a friend was viciously attacked by intruders at his place of business, this despite his having a security system. They determined that there had to be a security system efficient enough to ensure that an individual would never again experience such an attack. Now, 10 years later, Netwatch has customers across four continents and says that it has successfully prevented over 35,000 crimes in progress. www.netwatchsystem.com.

OLDCASTLE

Oldcastle, Inc. is a global conglomerate of building product manufacturers and distributors based in Ireland that provide a wide range of architectural masonry and concrete products including architectural glass, roof tiles, veneers, block, segmental retaining walls, brick and interlocking concrete pavers.

Oldcastle, a subsidiary of Cement Roadstone Holdings, is devoted to manufacturing quality products and continuous improvement to that quality which is built into our approach. Some 20,000 hours are spent each year on research and development. Perfecting new products that are in step with current trends keeps OldcastleTs products on the cutting-edge in shape, use and color.

Oldcastle’s Georgia-based U.S. operation, meanwhile, is North America’s largest manufacturer of building products and materials.

States the company’s website: “Imagine a company capable of providing the modern building materials needed to build a community, even the bridges and highways to get you there. You have just imagined Oldcastle. Surprised? We are North America’s largest manufacturer of building products. Yet we do a lot more than manufacture products. We’re partnering with national accounts, design-build firms and construction professionals to simplify the way buildings happen. So why has no one done this before? Simple, no one else can. Oldcastle has the largest manufacturing footprint, the greatest product breadth, and we are not in a category that we do not lead. If you are looking to simplify the construction process-welcome to Oldcastle.”

The company exemplifies the growing economic links between the U.S. and Ireland in that while much is said and written about the number of U.S. companies creating jobs in Ireland, there is lately ever growing reasons to focus on the number of jobs being created in the U.S. by Irish companies. www.oldcastle.com.

RANDOX

Based in Crumlin, County Antrim, Randox have become one of the world’s leading medical diagnosis firms, developing state-of-the-art equipment used by medical practitioners across the globe.

So successful is the company, founded by Dr. Peter Fitzgerald, that it now has offices in a range of territories, from Switzerland to Vietnam. Of course, Randox is established in the U.S. too, with a branch based in Kearnysville, West Virginia.

A firm dedicated to ultimately saving lives, Randox has earned countless awards over the years including five Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and the UTV Business Eye Business Personality of the Year. Dr. Fitzgerald was awarded an Honorary Degree (DSc Hons) by the University of Ulster for services to Economic Development in 2010 and in 2011 was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), for services to business in Northern Ireland. www.randox.com.

United Airlines

The only U.S. carrier to fly direct to Belfast, United Airlines is also proud of its regular Dublin route. The CEOs of

Continental and United told Congress during their recent merger process that their merger would benefit the flyer. so far, this view seems to be bearing up, and up, not least on the Irish routes.

With over $12 billion in revenues, United is focused on moving back to profit – though the weak economy continues to drag performance in the U.S. This year United marks the seventh anniversary of its Belfast service which has now flown well over half a million passengers across the Atlantic, in the process contributing upwards of $75 million to the Northern Ireland economy.

The Belfast-New York service has been a remarkable success, according to United’s Jim Summerford.

“As the only trans-Atlantic carrier serving Belfast, United has been able to give people a convenient way of flying direct to and from America without having to travel via Dublin or Heathrow. Northern Ireland and the U.S. enjoy strong social ties and business links and we’re delighted to have helped support and develop these relationships with our nonstop flights. www.united.com.

 

Perfecseal

Keith McCracken, managing director of packaging giant Perfecseal, says his Derry staff are the secret to the success of the company’s success in Europe.

“Their commitment and determination have undoubtedly given us an extra edge in business which, coupled with our international reputation for product integrity and innovation, is helping us to soar,” he says.

A division of multinational Bemis, Perfecseal’s headquarters are in state-of-the-art premises in Campsie, outside Derry city. Bemis was established in 1858 in Missouri, as a manufacturer of seamless cotton bags for milled food products. It has played an influential role in the packaging industry ever since. Bemis’ 12 companies operate in 84-plus locations in 13 countries with sales of over $3.5bn. Derry is among the company’s most successful locations with employee numbers surpassing targets and now above 300 in its expanded plant at Campsie.

Perfecseal President Paul Verbeten, based at the company headquarters in Wisconsin, and who has championed the Ireland investment, was honored at the inaugural Irish Echo Index 30 celebration at India House, Wall Street in 2008. www.perfecseal.ie.

 

VALERO

As oil and gas reserves off Ireland’s coastline become ever more economical for drilling purposes, companies such as Valero energy Corporation can be expected to take an ever greater interest in the island.

Valero is a Fortune 500 international manufacturer and a marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products, and power based in San Antonio, Texas. The company owns and operates 16 refineries throughout the United States, Canada, UK, Ireland and the Caribbean with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3 million barrels per day, 10 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.2 billion U.S. gallons per year, and a 50 megawatt wind farm. Valero is also one of the United States’ largest retail operators with approximately 6,800 retail and branded wholesale outlets in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and the Caribbean under the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, Beacon, and Texaco brands.

Valero was created in 1980, as a spinoff of Coastal States Gas Corporation. The name Valero comes from Misión San Antonio de Valero, which is better known worldwide as The Alamo.

In 2011, Valero, which has its Irish headquarters in Lucan, County Dublin, moved to buy Chevron’s Texaco chain for $1.73bn. The deal covered gas stations in Ireland and Britain and a refinery in Wales and gave Valero its initial foothold in Europe. The Texaco-branded network is the second-largest in Ireland, according to Valero. www.valero.com.

 

VIACOM/MTV

Viacom Inc., short for “Video & Audio Communications,” is a U.S. global mass media company with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television. As of 2010, it was the world’s fourth-largest media conglomerate, behind The Walt Disney Company, Time Warner and News Corporation. Viacom is owned in majority by National Amusements, Inc., a privately owned theater company based in Dedham, Massachusetts. National Amusements holds another controlling stake in CBS Corporation.

The current Viacom was created in 2005 as a spinoff from CBS Corporation, which changed its name from Viacom to CBS at the same time. Comprising BET Networks, MTV Networks, and Paramount Pictures, Viacom connects with audiences through television, motion pictures, mobile platforms and online in more than 160 countries and territories. Viacom operates approximately 170 media networks reaching more than 600 million global subscribers and more than 500 branded digital media properties.

Viacom International Media Networks (previously MTV Networks Europe) is a subsidiary of Viacom. Viacom International Media Networks Europe includes the multimedia entertainment brands: MTV, VH1, TMF, VIVA, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Nick Jr. MTV Networks Europe is primarily based in London and Warsaw, while also operating a number of additional in Paris, Stockholm, Prague and Dublin, where the company’s Irish operation is headquartered.

But it was a hundred miles up the road that Viacom, in November of last year, delivered its most dramatic Irish showing to date. The company brought the MTV Europe Awards to Belfast’s Odyssey Arena and it was an event that many saw as being a cultural tipping point for a city that has been working hard in recent times to project a new image of itself to the world. www.viacom.com.

 

Wyeth/Pfizer

Pfizer was founded by cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart in 1849 and in its present day form of Wytth/Pfizer is a global pharmaceutical powerhouse.

Pfizer has been a major employer in Ireland for many years, its Viagara plant in Cork being covered by the likes of “60 Minutes” on CBS.

Nevertheless, in recent days, the company confirmed that it is to cut its workforce in Cork by 177 next year, this in response to a fall in demand for its leading anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor, which has come off patent in the U.S. and is currently coming off patent in Europe.

Pfizer’s Cork plants are at Ringskiddy, where 500 people are employed, and Little Island, which has a workforce of 220

Pfizer vice president, Dr. Paul Duffy, said the job cuts were in response in a reduction in the volumes of medicines being manufactured at both the Ringaskiddy and Little Island sites, and in particular to the patent expiry on Lipitor which has resulted in a drop in worldwide demand.

“Pfizer has been preparing for patent expiration for a considerable time. Patent expiry means greater competition which impacts global demand, and we need to readjust the scale of our manufacturing operations,” said Dr. Duffy.

But he stressed that Ireland would remain a key strategic location for Pfizer. The firm employs a total of 4,000 people at a number of sites in Ireland including Kildare, Limerick and Dublin as well as the two Cork facilities.

“Sites in Ireland have very recently been successful in securing the manufacture of four new Pfizer medicines, two for cancer, one for osteoporosis and one for rheumatoid arthritis,” Dr. Duffy pointed out. www.pfizer.com.