Mr Brian Nolan, president of the Irish Business Organisation (IBO) in New York, said he felt like a child writing to Santa at Christmas when he corresponded with President Mary McAleese to ask her to come and visit. But last week, visit she did, when she formally opened the IBO's Trade Show in New York, putting the organisation firmly on the business map.
The IBO was set up by an Irish-born businessman, Mr Arthur Clements, 25 years ago. In those days, recalls Mr Patrick Duffy, one of the longest standing members and a past-president, "it was confined to the Irish-born and was made up of insurance executives who would meet for dinner, a drink and to shoot the breeze".
The goals of the organisation have remained the same over the years to develop contacts and network opportunities within the Irish and Irish-American business communities but there have been several positive changes. The first was to open it to women, the second was to open membership to Irish-Americans and the third was to attract young people by responding to their social needs and giving them a role in running the organisation.
In the early 1980s, no one was emigrating from Ireland, says Mr Duffy. "At that time the organisation could have died. There is great credit due to those who kept it alive in much tougher times," he says.
More recently, the booming US economy coupled with the arrival in New York of many green-card-holding, young, Irish professionals have made the IBO begin to prosper. "The Irish community today is much more stable than in the late 1980s and early 1990s," he adds. "That means there is more stability in membership today since most have decided to make America their home." Mr Duffy, originally from Mullingar, is a former teacher turned certified financial planner who credits the IBO which much of the business that has come his way. "I've also met a number of people who acted as a great business support group. I work for myself and if I need an answer to a question there are people I can call," he says.
The IBO has had a variety of meeting places during its existence ranging from The Old Stand pub, the Roger Smith hotel and the Irish Trade Board. Until four years ago, the IBO's small group of members were meeting in a bedroom suite in Fitzpatrick's Hotel on Lexington Ave. "In the past, the member base was too small to be attractive," says Mr Nolan, who took over the two-year term of president in January although he retains his full-time job as executive vice-president of sales with Blarney Woollen Mills. "We had to get the momentum going," he adds, "and that meant self-generating publicity, word of mouth, leading by example, and the can-do attitude of the members."
Through the effort of successive committees and presidents, membership has grown to 350 and they now meet at the Shelburne Hotel in midtown Manhattan.
The IBO is a non-profit organisation which was run by volunteers until it grew to require one full-time administrator and a 24-hour helpline. The cost of joining is $120 (£85.70) a year and it is open to Irish-born and IrishAmericans living in the tri-state area: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. A third of the members are now Irish-American.
Members have a monthly meeting on the second Wednesday of every month where there's always a guest speaker, a member profile, and an opportunity for members and guests to network and socialise.
On the third Wednesday each month, the IBO holds a business-to-business breakfast in Manhattan.
It also hosts a lunch on St Patrick's Day and has one major fund-raiser each year, the annual dinner-dance in October. More than 1,100 newsletters are mailed to members and non-members each month.
From a business perspective, Mr Nolan says: "For those coming over, the IBO is an addition to the Irish Tourist Board and the Irish Trade Board."
Not only does the organisation act as a business information source, but it also has an active social life. Events such as wine-tasting, line dancing, golf outings, ski trips, boat cruises and cigar dinners have all been a part of the social calendar.
The IBO Website* lists the members and their occupations. It also publishes a directory which has a much more varied list of services than the first directory published in 1990.
The activities of members range from automobile repairs to watersports and include financial, computer and Internet-related businesses.
This diversity of talent was underscored at the trade show, the third annual event for the IBO but the first open to the public. It was held at the International Toy Centre on Broadway on June 24th. There were 70 exhibitors of which 10 were technology companies including F8 Media, Teledotcom and NetSculptors.
President McAleese, performing the official opening, applauded the ambitions of the IBO as it embarked on another quarter century.
"The IBO network is a great resource for newcomers to provide contacts with those already established," she said. "So much can be achieved when you put the genius of the Irish in America together with the genius of the Irish at home," she commented. "This trade show is effectively a showcase for Irish and Irish-American talent."
Mr Nolan ended with the words with which he begins every IBO meeting: "It's hip to be Irish. It's hip to be Celtic. There's never been a better time to do business in America."
* www.ibo-ny.com
