This article is from page 2 of the 2011-04-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE 170 new jobs announced by the Cregg Group and Zagg in the Shannon Free Zone could be just the tip of the iceberg – says Managing Director Zagg International Brian S Packer.
According to Mr Packer, who was in Clare to officially announce the deal on Friday, the total Shannon based workforce from the deal could exceed 300 before the end of 2015.
Mr Packer, who is the overseeing the company’s expansion in the European, Middle Eastern and African market, had credited Ireland’s under threat 12.5 per cent corporation tax as one of the key reason for going forward with the Shannon investment.
“There are many reasons why we picked Shannon, but Ireland’s com- petitive corporation tax rate definitely sealed the deal for us,” he said.
“We will be manufacturing, shipping, marketing and selling our products from this base [in Shannon] and will be creating job opportunities, both directly and indirectly, over the next few years as we have at our US headquarters for Zagg.
“While we will be recruiting for a number of key positions, the majority of jobs will be created indirectly, as Zagg International will create a good number of jobs through our partnerships and key vendors such as Cregg.
“In total we expect over 300 jobs to be created over the next four years.”
Based in Utah Zagg Incorporated manufacture and distributing protective coverings for small handheld electrical such as i-pods and mobile phones.
The company had a revenue of more than $60 million in 2010 and it is hoped that this major expansion, which will be coordinated from their new European Headquarters in Shannon, could double that figure.
Zagg’s Shannon facility will carry out the sales and marketing as well as product design and administrative activities for the new expansion.
The partnership with the Cregg Group will the Clare company carry out all the manufacturing, assembly, packaging and logistics work for the expansion.
Two of Zaggs flagship products – invisibleSHIELD and ZAGGskins – will be produced by Cregg in Shannon. Cregg will also be responsible for the distribution of the full range of Zagg products in Ireland and Europe.