US company to create 100 jobs in Waterford as part of €4.4m plan

US-based international publishing group Agora has announced a 300% increase in employment at its Irish operations, with 100 jobs set to come on stream at a new €4.4m development in Co Waterford.

The group — which is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, and has facilities in nine countries including Ireland — employs 33 people at its lifestyle publishing operation, International Living, in Waterford city centre, which opened in 1998.

The company is now set to establish a multilingual contact centre and technology services facility, at Portlaw, adding another 100 jobs over the next three years.

Agora has acquired a period building in Portlaw to house its new facilities. The group is spending €4.4m on the project and hopes to have them up and running by the middle of next year.

Speaking at yesterday’s IDA Ireland-supported announcement, Agora’s head of publishing services, Daryl Berver, said: “We have had a long relationship with Waterford, and this investment allows us to meet the demands of our growing business and take advantage of the high quality of talent available.”

Martin Shanahan, the head of IDA, welcomed the announcement as “an important step” on the journey of increasing foreign direct investment in regional areas. “Achieving increased levels of investment in regional locations is an important focus of IDA’s new strategy,” he said.