Ireland INC US 250 Index 2023 launched
Pictured (L-R): Ian Hyland, Founder and President of Ireland INC, Co-Founder of Dublin Tech Summit and publisher of Business & Finance; Claire Cronin, United States Ambassador to Ireland; Catherine Keogh, Kerry Group. Picture: Andres Poveda Photography.
Celebrating the strength and value of Irish FDI in the United States.
Ireland INC released the sixth edition of the Ireland INC US 250 Index, supported by Sia Partners, at a launch event in the Museum of Literature Ireland. United State Ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin, spoke at the launch. She said, ‘Ireland INC is a great partner with the US Embassy. The relationship between Ireland and the United States is based on our ancestral and familial relationships but over time it is really the trade and investment that is the glue that keeps us together.’
This year’s Index, comprising 250 of the fastest growing Irish companies investing and operating in the US, truly reflects the strength and value of Irish FDI in the States which currently stands at $240 billion.
Mr. Hyland writes on the success of Irish involvement in America over the last number of years: “Despite the unprecedented challenges of the last few years with Brexit and the global pandemic posing particularly difficult scenarios, Irish businesses have thrived and continue to expand their investment footprint across the United States.”
2023 has seen more growth as Irish FDI across the US continues to contribute to an array of industries including financial software, life sciences, telecommunications, tech solutions, digital media, oil and gas, international education, cleantech, consumer goods, food FDI. 100,000 US workers are employed by US affiliates of Irish-owned firms with Irish-owned companies in almost 2,200 locations in the US. Approximately 900 Irish companies are exporting across the Atlantic.
Ireland INC is proudly supported by Sia Partners, Ibec, Arnall Golden Gregory, Business & Finance, Pfizer, Enterprise Ireland, Unicef, and Select USA.
Ambassador Cronin also noted that the US and Ireland “share a similar vision for the world.”
“We share a long history of ancestral and cultural ties,” she said.
“It is however, the outsized trade and investment relationship that is the glue that holds us together and it’s the same glue that will propel us into the future. Tonight, we are here to celebrate the success of Irish investment in the United States and show new Irish businesses what investment in the US has to offer.
“A key pillar of the work we do with the embassy is supporting Irish companies through our Select USA program. Select USA, which facilitates direct investment in the American market, is an absolutely not-to-be-missed opportunity for Irish investors.”
Catherine Keogh, Chief Corporate Affairs and Brand Officer, Kerry Group, spoke about Kerry Group’s experience in the United States.
She said: “To those of you who … we have not yet had the pleasure of hosting at an Innovation Center in Naas, chances are that this morning, if you tasted a pastry or had a yogurt, if you stopped for a coffee or snack during lunch, or if you enjoyed an alcoholic beverage or indeed a low or no alcoholic beverage this evening, chances are you were one of 1 billion people who have consumed Kerry Group ingredients.”
Reflecting on Kerry Group’s early years in the United States, she said: “I do think it’s important also to remember back in those days, the eighties and the early nineties, the sort of power of the possibility that the US offered and that culture of innovation that Ambassador Cronin referenced.
“I experienced it first hand and as a young graduate – a very young graduate – and it certainly was a game changer for me personally. I know it was for many of the young, many of the hundreds of the young Kerry graduates that went out to build their careers in the US.”
