Minister aims to broaden base and opportunities for Irish indigenous companies in a visit to southern US

MINISTER FOR Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation Richard Bruton begins a four-day trade mission with representatives of 70 Irish companies through the American southeast today, with the objective of “taking indigenous companies into rapidly growing parts of the US”, the Minister said in a telephone interview.

“It’s my ambition to build an indigenous engine of growth to complement our strength in foreign direct investment,” Mr Bruton explained. Irish exports are performing well, particularly in the food sector. But “the percentage of output from indigenous companies that is exported hasn’t really increased”, he said. “We really need to correct that. The new dynamic growth areas are shifting from traditional markets – the UK and EU. We need to broaden our base. That’s what this is all about.”

Ireland’s strong foreign direct investment (FDI) base is “an obvious strength, invaluable”, the Minister said. But it must be matched with innovation not only in product development but also in opening new markets.

The Minister will begin his journey in Atlanta, Georgia, before moving on to Miami, Florida, and Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. He called the southeast region “relatively unexplored territories, which are part of a familiar country and environment”.

Direct flights to and from Ireland have made these cities more accessible to Irish businessmen. Delta flies between Dublin and Atlanta; US Airways from Charlotte – which is close to Raleigh – to Dublin, and Aer Lingus has direct flights to Orlando.

Atlanta is an important transportation and telecommunications hub. Miami is a centre for travel and tourism, and is considered the gateway to Latin America. Raleigh is home to the world famous Research Triangle Park, one of the US’s biggest bases for research and development in the life sciences. Charlotte is the second-biggest financial centre in the US.

These strengths will determine the focus of the trade mission in each city. In Atlanta today, the Minister and Irish telecom companies will meet top executives from ATT and RIM, the Canadian company that makes the Blackberry telephone.

The US has trailed Europe in mobile telecommunications, and is “in catch-up mode”, said Gerry Murphy, Enterprise Ireland’s executive director for North America. He called the US mobile telecoms market “a key target for us”. Irish companies like Openet Telecom and Newbay Software are particularly strong in content software – what one sees on the telephone screen.

Asked what arguments he will use to convince US companies to buy Irish, Bruton cited innovation by Daon, whose biometric security software is already used in US airports, and Norkom, which creates software to ensure the security of bank transactions.

“What sets these companies apart is they have developed niche solutions that have real relevance to US companies,” he said. “We’re not asking people to stop buying US butter and to buy Irish butter instead.

“We’re looking at technologies that Irish companies have developed that can be applied to problems US companies have,” Bruton continued. “That would be the theme, whether in ICT, energy management or financial services . . . We’re not going into ATT and saying ‘buy Irish’. We will be saying, ‘Here’s an array of companies who are doing very exciting things in new technology. Do they have a fit for the challenges you face’?”

Paul Gleeson, Ireland’s Consul General in Atlanta, has done much of the advance work in scheduling appointments with government officials, chambers of commerce and the Irish diaspora in the region. Bruton will meet the governors of Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, as well as the mayor of Charlotte.

Nine Irish companies will be represented at a stand called “Smart Farm”, at the national dairy show in Atlanta today. Dairymaster, Dromone Engineering Ltd and Richard Keenan Co are among them. Traceability “from farm to fork” is a field that interests the Americans, where Irish companies, for example Softrace, based in Cork, have expertise.

Also in Atlanta, Bruton will meet executives from Old Castle, which is owned by Cement Roadstone Holdings. Old Castle makes construction products and is the largest Irish-owned company in the US, employing 36,000 people.

“We are investigating whether we can build more business with Old Castle for Irish companies,” Murphy said.

Tomorrow’s trip to the University of Miami will concentrate on life sciences, with participation by Irish companies including Biotector, DPS Biometics, GenCell Biosystems, Qumas, Socrates and Zenith Technologies.

Most of the US companies that trade with Latin America are based in Miami. The trade mission is attuned to the possibility of selling to these US companies, which are tapping into high economic growth in Brazil, where Enterprise Ireland also has a representative.

At the Research Triangle Park in Raleigh on Wednesday, Bruton said Irish companies would emphasise their expertise in, for example, “clean tech” – particularly wind energy – and intelligent medical devices, where innovation in several sectors converges, for example in devices that slowly discharge medicine into the bloodstream. “We’re looking for collaboration with some of the companies based at the park,” Mr Murphy said.

Asked whether contracts will be signed during the mission, Murphy said: “There are a few things that may be brought over the line. In the life sciences and biotech area, we expect to sign a few, one with a very large pharmaceutical company.”

This is the first Irish trade mission to the American south, and is more likely to preserve Irish jobs than to create new jobs, Mr Murphy said. “The US market has slowed down substantially. This is really about Irish companies searching new seams, geographically and sectorally.”