Treacy launches Brochure on Ballinasloe as an Investment location Additional £50,000 (€ 63,487) for Enterprise Units - Treacy

Mr. Noel Treacy, T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce, today (Tuesday 31st July, 2001) officially launched a new Brochure, to promote Ballinasloe as an ideal location for Industrial Development. Minister Treacy also announced the allocation of £50,000 (€ 63,487) to assist the development of additional enterprise units at the Enterprise Centre in Ballinasloe.

The brochure, prepared by the Ballinasloe Inter Agency Group, sets out the advantages which Ballinasloe can offer investors, a skilled, flexible and productive workforce, a competitive cost base, the infrastructure and logistical resources required, to enable companies to compete successfully in a changing global market place. The brochure highlights also the many wonderful amenities that Ballinasloe has to offer such as the modern river-based Marina and scenic surrounding countryside.

Minister Treacy said that"the new brochure will be a very useful marketing tool for Ballinasloe and will be widely disseminated through the industrial development agencies’ networks worldwide".

Minister Treacy recalled the decision of Enterprise Ireland in May 2000 to support the Ballinasloe Chamber of Commerce, in the development of incubator workspace, at the Enterprise Centre, in Ballinasloe. "This development on the Roscommon road, will be of major help to local entrepreneurs, to help them develop their businesses, he said." As this centre has been very successful, in creating 58 jobs to date, Minister Treacy has sanctioned a further investment of £50,000 (€ 63,487) by the Galway City and County Enterprise Board, in recognition of the need for additional small units to assist with the creation of jobs in the Ballinasloe area.

The brochure was produced as part of the work of the Inter-Agency Group established, by Minister Treacy and the Tanaiste on 23 February, 2000, in response to the A.T. Cross closure announcement. The Inter-Agency Group, which is chaired by Mr. Tom Hyland Area Director, IDA Ireland, comprises representatives of the State’s industrial development agencies, Ballinasloe Chamber of Commerce, Ballinasloe UDC, Galway County Council, SIPTU and Westbic. The production of the new brochure is being financed by A. T. Cross.

Securing alternative job creating activities, is one of the Inter-Agency Group’s priorities and considerable progress has been made in this regard. IDA Ireland has been successful in attracting Valois, a French Engineering company to establish a manufacturing operation in Ballinasloe. The company is initially commencing operations in a temporary facility, while it is working with its property advisors to design and develop a new state of the art facility. The company will employ 60 people, at full production and recruitment is actively underway at present.

Minister Treacy stated that Ballinasloe is being treated as a priority town for investment by IDA Ireland. In 1999, IDA acquired 35 acres of land at Creagh on the East side of Ballinasloe for the development of a new high specification Business Park. Phase one of the development work and all services to the site, have now been completed. IDA has worked with a local group of developers who have completed construction of a new 27,800 sq. ft advance unit on the new Park. IDA are aggressively marketing this building and the Business Park to overseas clients.

Earlier this year Enterprise Ireland launched its regional strategy, 'Driving Growth in Regional Enterprise'. The primary thrust of this approach is to create and sustain enterprises in regional communities and to achieve a wide dispersal of economic activity throughout this country. A key element of this is the enhancement of the operating environment for companies outside of Dublin and encouraging investments by expansion-minded Dublin-based companies into regional locations such as Ballinasloe. " I am personally optimistic that the Indigenous sector, will grow in this town," Minister Treacy continued.

Minister Treacy concluded that "Ballinasloe is well placed to be a strategic growth centre in terms of jobs, providing a quality environment in which to live and work." Minister Treacy thanked the members of the Inter-Agency Group for their work to date and urged them to continue in their quest, to bring additional investment to Ballinasloe.