Helen Downes, CEO, Shannon Chamber pictured with the Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy Dublin, Barbara M. Thomas, during her recent visit to Shannon. Photo: Eamon Ward.

Shannon Chamber CEO Helen Downes was delighted to welcome the Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy Dublin, Barbara M. Thomas to the Chamber offices during a recent visit to Shannon and provide a briefing on the expansive multi-sectoral activities being undertaken at Shannon Free Zone, home to the largest concentration of US investment in Ireland, outside Dublin.

“We sometimes take for granted the magnitude of business activity that is taking place in Shannon on a daily basis but when you consider that there are over 11,000 people employed in Shannon, with almost 9,000 of those working in the Free Zone, and that we have over 300 member companies in our Chamber, this is quite impressive,” said Ms Downes.

“We need more people to hear about Shannon, the sectors that operate here and the career opportunities that can be availed of, particularly in new sectors such as automation and artificial intelligence, hence also introducing Ms Thomas to Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) general manager vehicle engineering (Ireland) John Cormican.

“Mr Cormican gave an overview of the connected and autonomous vehicles’ (CAV) research and development being undertaken at JLR’s new software engineering centre in Shanon.  A tour of the facility where the technology developed in Shannon is being tested demonstrated the calibre of the work being undertaken by JLR in Shannon and the skills being deployed.

Commenting on her visit, Ms Thomas said: “I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to visit the Shannon region and was particularly struck by the great strength of the U.S.-Ireland economic relationship in the catchment area.  The U.S. Embassy is very interested in the future of Shannon and continues to work with the Irish government and other key stakeholders to support and promote trade, investment, and job creation in both of our countries.  I encourage Irish companies in the Shannon region that are thinking about investing in the United States to reach out to our Commercial Department to avail themselves of our investment services.” 

Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy Dublin, Barbara M. Thomas (centre) met with Jaguar Land Rover’s general manager vehicle engineering (Ireland) John Cormican and Shannon Chamber CEO Helen Downes during her recent visit to Shannon. Photo: Eamon Ward.