County ‘must sell itself to attract industry’

KERRY, which has lost up to 2,000 industrial jobs, must sell itself more aggressively to attract industry, according to county manager Martin Riordan.

Speaking at a workshop in Tralee, he stressed Kerry was in competition with other towns and regions for jobs.

“We have to sell businesses and companies the message that Kerry is an attractive place to locate a business,” he said.

Quality of life and Kerry Airport were two key selling points the manager pointed out, while also highlighting the importance of the potential workforce.

“We have access to graduates, not just from the Institute of Technology, Tralee, but also from University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology, University of Limerick and Limerick Institute of Technology,” he explained.

At the workshop, members of the Kerry Enterprise Action Team (KEAT) met with public representatives from Kerry and executives from job creation agencies.

The workshops heard that trends indicated in key economic indicators for occupation change in Kerry, between 1996 to 2002, were continuing.

Farming is down 31%, manufacturing up 0.2%, building up 26%. Clerical is up 27%, communication up 19%, sales up 21%, professional up 31% and services up 30%.

More than 12,603 people are self-employed, which is almost a quarter of the workforce in the country.

Mr Riordan, who is chairman of KEAT, said the National Spatial Strategy would also be crucial to Kerry’s success in attracting industries, pointing out that the size of the Tralee-Killarney hub was a major factor He also said broadband was another key priority.