Ireland tempts with green

Even small businesses should inquire, visiting consul says

By David Flaum
Contact
May 6, 2005

If you want to do business in Ireland, Charles Sheehan would like to hear from you.

The Chicago-based consul general of Ireland was in Memphis Thursday for the start of a three-day visit, connected mostly to Memphis in May. Ireland is the honored nation this year.

"We're looking to see what Memphis has to offer," Sheehan said.

It's not that no one in Memphis does business on the Emerald Isle. FedEx Express flies cargo in and out of Shannon Airport in Dublin and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has a relationship with Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, he said.

There are others. Floratine Products of Collierville, which makes products to aid the growth of turf grass, sells its goods there, part of $82 million of Tennessee exports to Ireland last year, said Phil Johnson, vice president of economic development for the Memphis Regional Chamber.

The lion's share of exports from the state to Ireland come from the Memphis area, he said.

Sheehan met Thursday with Johnson, other chamber officials and business people interested in exporting to Ireland, including several members of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation. They also heard from Dale Tasharski, senior commercial officer for the U.S. Embassy in Dublin.

Irish officials want to see more U.S. investment in their country, especially in biomedical and pharmaceutical business and information and communications technology, Sheehan said.

Ireland has been successful in attracting big companies -- 14 of the 15 largest biotech firms and a who's who of computer and Internet giants, from Microsoft to eBay.

Part of the reason for his visit, which included a speech Thursday night to the Economic Club of Memphis, was to tell people why:

Ireland is a platform to the European Union and its 450 million consumers.

Ireland has a young, highly educated workforce.

Corporate taxes are low -- 12.5 percent.

"Even small- and medium- sized companies should look at Ireland," Sheehan said.

-- David Flaum: 529-2330

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