Watch: The international firms shortlisted for the Cork Chamber Company of the Year Awards

In the last of a four-part series looking at the finalists for the Cork Chamber Cork Company of the Year Awards, we profile the contenders in the International category

Mike Smith, general manager, Lilly GBS Centres and Todd Winge, general manager, Lilly Kinsale. The company has been in Cork since 1978.

Eli Lilly builds on its roots in Cork with further innovation

Since arriving in Kinsale in 1978, global biopharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has put down deep roots in Cork.

Its belief in the region was reinforced in 2010 when it picked Little Island as the location as the main office for its new Global Business Solutions (GBS). Recent growth has resulted in a fivefold increase in employment with worker numbers at both facilities at just under 2,000. Eli Lilly manufactures life-saving products and medicines for the treatment of cancer, immunology diseases, diabetes, and pain. Additionally, over the past year, they have put a focus on the race to treat Covid-19.

The Lilly operations in Cork have had a significant impact on the county over four decades, offering high quality, skilled jobs along with major capital investments in the region. Approximately €1.5bn has been invested in projects at the Kinsale site in the past 10 years.

The GBS in Little Island is the largest global services site at Lilly, co-ordinating clinical trials and providing support to patients and healthcare professionals, as well as traditional global services provision. Its growth has also seen new employees moving to live and work in the county from across the EU and the world. There are almost 30 nationalities represented in this group, adding wonderful richness to the diverse fabric of modern Cork.

The past decade, in particular, has seen enormous growth and expansion across both Cork sites with the associated off-spin of economic benefits to the region. This has been made possible due to the talent and commitment of the people on both sites. Lilly’s success is built on its teams’ ability to continuously innovate, exemplified by the role they played in the delivery of Covid treatments in 2020, from clinical development through to regulatory, manufacturing, supply chain and patient care.

Like many companies, Eli Lilly has a firm focus on sustainability. They are building a solar farm on the Kinsale site, in partnership with Waterford-based company, EnerPower. At peak output in mid-2021, it will replace 65% of the Kinsale site’s purchased electricity. Kinsale also has a recycling rate of 99.6% for defined recyclable waste with just 0.45% of site waste sent to landfill

Todd Winge, vice president and Kinsale general manager, paid tribute to the company’s staff.

“Over the past year, our people have been particularly outstanding. Throughout the challenges of this pandemic, they have remained steadfast and resilient in their commitment to our mission to make lives better for patients. I hope that our becoming a Cork Company of the Year finalist will be seen by them as recognition that they truly are exceptional.”

Mike Smith, Eli Lilly’s general manager for Global Business Solutions said it is a huge honour to be chosen as a finalist.

“I am so happy for our employees, they are the foundation of our success in delivering on Lilly’s purpose and have been the driving force behind our inclusive, innovative culture where people can be themselves and perform at their best.”

PepsiCo continues to innovate after five decades in Cork

An iconic name, PepsiCo is one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies serving more than 200 countries and territories around the world.

John Meany, head of supply chain, PepsiCo Ireland. The company has sites in Carrigaline and Little Island.

Products like Pepsi, 7Up, Tropicana, Naked, Sensations, Walkers and Doritos are household names and are enjoyed by consumers in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.

Despite its global reach, PepsiCo is embedded in the Cork community. The company first began operations in Cork in 1974 with a 30-person concentrate manufacturing facility.

In the past five decades, PepsiCo’s presence here has grown to become a global campus with operations in Carrigaline and Little Island employing almost 1,000 people including multi-generational Cork family members.

PepsiCo’s operations in Cork are headquarters for global concentrate operations servicing customers in more than 125 countries. It is also home to the research and development campus in the areas of measurement science, beverages, packaging and dairy.

PepsiCo operates three beverage and foods concentrate manufacturing operations and also provides global business services including engineering, financial services, procurement, quality, supply chain, marketing, customer insights, manufacturing, and technology.

The company continues to innovate and in recent years has seen the development of a packaging centre of excellence, enabling sustainable packaging and commercialisation of recycled plastic across Europe.

Technology development is carried out to enable sugar-reduced beverages with more than 100 launches globally.

Beverage innovation for West Europe is led from Cork as is PepsiCo’s research agenda in dairy and its biotransformation partnerships with APC, Vistamilk and Teagasc.

PepsiCo in Cork also encourages the next generation through STEM, graduate trainees, the iWISH project and Million Women Mentors, leveraging the company’s more experienced employees as coaches and mentors.

The company was recently named the best place to work for LGBTQ+ and celebrates diversity and inclusion.

On sustainability, the company is on course to use 100% renewable energy sources this year.

Over the last three years, PepsiCo has significantly reduced packaging and now sends zero waste to landfill.

They has also been named winner of the American Chamber of Commerce’s “Creafog” award in 2019 recognising their commitment to sustainability.

After five decades of growth and success in Cork, PepsiCo is an example of how companies can not only find a home in a community but also grow, innovate and compete in global business, build careers and encourage a more equal, inclusive and sustainable society.

“We are absolutely delighted to get to the final stage of the prestigious Cork Chamber Company of the Year Awards,” John Meany, head of supply chain, PepsiCo Ireland said.

Qualcomm in Cork helps keep the world communicating

Keeping the world communicating is a difficult technological task but something that Qualcomm is at the centre of.

The tech giant has been a leader for the past 34 years in developing technologies that transform how the world connects, computes and communicates.

Qualcomm’s site director and senior director of engineering, Paul Kelleher.

They have been at the very heart of mobile technologies such as 3G and 4G.

Now the company of inventors is unlocking 5G, ushering in an age of rapid acceleration in connectivity and new possibilities, that will transform industries, create jobs and enrich lives.

It’s more than likely that the smartphone device in your pocket right now has Qualcomm technology inside it.

Their products and services aid in communication, electronics, automotive, wearables, gaming and Internet of Things technology.

Along with mobile technology, their target industries include audio, automotive, cameras, networking, industrial and commercial applications.

They have a long-standing focus on research and development spending more than $50bn (€41bn) with more than 130,000 patents and patent applications along with more than 30 years of innovation in chipsets, software, services and integrated platform solutions.

Internationally, the company has more than 44,000 employees working in 175 office across 40 countries.

The tech giant’s Irish headquarters have been located in Cork since 2013.

From having more than 100 staff in Ireland in 2018, Qualcomm has grown to more than 300 last year and has plans to surpass 400 over the next two years.

Late last year, after much work, a multimillion, four-year investment was confirmed for Qualcomm to establish a state of the art Research and Development facility in Cork.

This investment will allow for hundreds of highly skilled engineering roles.

The project, which is supported by the Government through IDA Ireland significantly enhances the reputation of the Irish semiconductor industry, adding to Ireland’s very strong reputation in microelectronics R&D.

The city centre location in the new Penrose Dock office development will help Qualcomm Ireland attract the world-class engineering talent needed to help fuel its continued success.

Along with its significant contribution to the local and regional economy, Qualcomm Ireland has close ties with 3rd level educational institutes and support their various events.

The company also takes interns for highly-valuable professional work experience.

Cork site director and senior director of engineering, Paul Kelleher said it is a great privilege for Qualcomm to be part of the Cork Chamber awards.

“We are very much focused on developing our company here in Cork, for the benefit and growth of Cork, and contributing to the Cork 2050 plan,” he said.