Two-way street: US-Ireland business relations are mutually beneficial

It may come as a surprise to many people, but Ireland, despite its small size, is currently the ninth-largest source of foreign direct investment to the US, with a value of $240 billion. About 650 Irish companies employ more than 100,000 people across all 50 states at present. These include many of our own global leaders such as Flutter Entertainment, Kerry Group, Glanbia, CRH, Kingspan, ICON and more.

“We accompanied US ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin to the SelectUSA Summit in May,” says American Chamber of Commerce Ireland CEO Mark Redmond. “It is the largest inward investment event in the US and Ireland had one of the biggest delegations there. We had lots of companies who were looking to expand existing operations in the US and others who were interested in investing for the first time.”

The American market has been a key focus for the Kerry Group right from the beginning. “From our earliest days, our operations in the US have been an integral part of our business and have helped to shape our global identity,” says Marguerite Larkin, Kerry Group chief financial officer.

“Just over 50 years ago, Kerry was a start-up, with its eye on the US export market. Those initial US exports in the 1970s were followed quickly by an investment presence and, from there, growth into Mexico, wider Latin America and beyond. The entrepreneurs leading our business at that time found in the US an environment that suited their goals and ambitions – a can-do culture that was open to business and vast opportunity. That culture remains a key part of our DNA today.”

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Today the company has a regional headquarters and innovation centre in Wisconsin, as well as a presence in more than 50 locations, with close to 6,000 employees, in North America.

“The US remains a vitally important part of the global organisation – a continued source of growth, technology and innovation, and our single most important market,” says Larkin.

She believes both Ireland and the United States have gained from the two-way trade and investment relationship.

“The benefits can be seen in the high value and utility of products traded, the employment generated, the increasing value of investments, the tax payments generated and in the technology and learnings shared. All of these elements flow from what is a remarkably successful relationship,” says Larkin.

“That success derives from a combination of factors – the historical links between the two nations, the familial and cultural connections and, of course, the vitally important policy decisions of the 1960s and after, which opened Ireland up to international trade and provided a positive investment environment.”

The people factor is critically important. “At the core of all this is people – the interpersonal connections which drove understanding, trust and friendship between Ireland and the US over many years,” Larkin says. “Those bonds evolved from cultural connections into business relationships; the business relationships which generated and underpin the flows of investment we see today, and which are essential to future success.

“The mutual relationship between Ireland and the US has evolved beyond the foundational elements which enabled it in its earlier days, to a point where the investments made over the years have taken on an additive momentum of their own.”

Larkin says the large numbers of US multinationals in Ireland and the Irish businesses that have set up successful bases in the US have created a globally significant network of value creation.

It is, she says, “a network in which Ireland plays a pivotal role, providing a bridge between the US, European and other international markets”.

And this connection isn’t just about trade and investment,” adds Larkin. “It provides a flow of learning, technology and innovation too, of which Kerry has first-hand experience.”

Another Irish firm with a significant presence in the US is healthcare intelligence and clinical research leader Icon. The company, which received the Global Impact Award at the inaugural American Chamber US Ireland Business Awards earlier this year, employs over 10,000 people in 15 locations across the US.

“We are a very proud Irish organisation,” says chief financial officer Brendan Brennan. “We sometime get the moniker of an Irish headquartered company but Icon was founded here in Ireland and the vast majority of our management team is located here. We started out in Blackrock in 1990 with five people. When I joined in 2006 we had 3,500 employees and $350 million in revenues. Today we have 41,000 employees globally and revenues of $8.1 billion.”

Interestingly, when the company was founded by John Climax and Ronan Lambe the US was not seen as a target market. That soon changed.

“We started off in Philadelphia in 1992,” says Brennan. “That’s a very good location to start as it is part of the healthcare corridor on the east coast which stretches up to New York.”

The company was responsible for one of the biggest clinical trials in history during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We worked with two great partners in Pfizer and BioNTech on the vaccine trial in the Americas,” Brennan recalls. “That involved 44,000 participants. It was one of the largest ever clinical trials in terms of the patient population. A couple of thousand patients is typical for a phase-three trial and trials for niche rare disease drugs can be a couple of hundred. With a vaccine, you need a representative sample for a very broad patient population.”

Brennan believes the United States continues to offer significant opportunities for ambitious Irish companies.

“You need to go out and present a product or service that is world class,” he says. “The US is very much a meritocracy. If you have a good product or service line and are brave enough to do a pitch, they will listen to you. There are very good opportunities there. It’s important to engage people and be proactive.

“Visit the country and spend time building relationships. Be brave and go and do it. As a society, it’s very open to people with good products and good ideas. Irish companies are very much welcome in the US. They are always given a chance. It pays to be brave and take a chance on this huge market.”