ICCUSA (Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the United States) is one extraordinary, international commerce machine with a mission. Turlough McConnell reports.
Patrick J. Keogh is searching for the right words. “We don’t like to be pigeonholed. We’re not exactly a traditional chamber of com-merce.” He pauses. “Nor strictly an organization for social good, really, ” Keogh muses. Deep in concentration, he mulls over how to define the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the United States (ICCUSA) once and for all. “It’s the first effective attempt to enlist and organize the Irish American business community into an influential force whose mission is to stimulate and create business opportunities in Ireland,” he claims, satisfied.
Four years ago, with European unity just around the corner, a group of top Irish American executives, representing leading companies such as Morgan Stanley, Chemical Bank, Jefferson Smurfit and others, decided the time was ripe to create a stronger business link between Ireland and the United States. The man they asked to head the mission was retired business leader Patrick J. Keogh, a New York native who grew up in Wexford, and one of America’s early success stories in computer sales. “I was comfortable in St. Thomas,” recalls Keogh. “But the opportunity to market Ireland within the business community was a challenge Icouldn’t resist.”
Four years later, with enough milestones to sustain his enthusiasm, Keogh is still a man with a mission. “Today, more than ever business is a contact sport and Ireland is a key player.” With the chambers of other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Italy and France, long established in the United States, some well over a hundred years, the newcomer is establishing solid roots fast. As many as three hundred companies are now members and that number is growing daily. It’s not just the business activities of Fortune 500 companies that Keogh and his team are trying to lure to Ireland, but they are actively pursuing small and mid-size companies. A recent ad in the Wall Street Journal attracted 130 companies to attend a seminar the group organized in Connecticut.
The chamber is a nonprofit membership organization with an important objective: the dissemination of useful information, within the United States, about Ireland and the important role the country plays as a gateway to the unified European Community — a market of 320 million people. It is able to extend to its members opportunities for contact with firms and individuals interested in doing business in Ireland and other European nations. Members are also kept informed about events being sponsored by European Community groups — those who join ICCUSA are automatically part of the larger European American Chamber of Commerce.
Ireland’s Chamber employs a wide variety of means to let U.S. business leaders and professionals know about the many important business features that Ireland offers business, not least, the unique labor pool available there – the youngest and best-educated group in all of Europe. These are English-speaking men and women, intelligent, skilled and ready to work. The Chamber also helps to coordinate the efforts of private firms and individuals seeking to learn more about government trade relations. Informational seminars and programs describing the many tax benefits — which at 10 percent is the lowest in Europe — and other incentives for new job-producing operations in Ireland are conducted by the organization on a continuing basis at key locations.
Other important functions of the organization are to provide forums for valuable networking by American and Irish executives here and in Ireland, to help business people exchange practical information on import and export matters, and, especially. to develop the most up-to-date and thorough market research possible.
Devoid of sectional, sectarian or political ties of any kind, ICCUSA is in a unique position to serve businesses on both sides of the Irish border and on both sides of the Atlantic in a very practical way. And though the focus is solidly on business matters, Keogh never misses an opportunity to encourage those of Irish heritage to give something back. “Here is an opportunity for Irish and Irish American executives to give back to Ireland through investments and through expertise leared in the U.S., not for sentimental reasons alone, but because it makes good business sense,” Keogh stresses.
“Ireland has the highest return on investment – 29.6 percent – of any country in Europe.”
Recently the top executive officers of ICCUSA were in Dublin for the first United States-Ireland-based Business Partnership Conference, sponsored by the Chamber and the U.S. Embassy in Ireland. There they met with Ireland’s Prime Minister, Albert Reynolds, who had addressed a special meeting in Boston two years ago, and expressed his appreciation for the work the Chamber has been doing since its founding. The conference, hugely successful, was attended by representatives from 30 American companies.
The group spent a week meeting government representatives and heads of firms with similar interests, and visiting more than seventy sites – visits that had been pre-arranged. The result was business revenues totaling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and professional relationships that will surely lead to even more. Creating these relationships is the heart of the enterprise.
Among several initiatives undertaken during the conference, one of the most fruitful was FIRST STEP, a non-profit Irish company formed to assist in the creation of job opportunities in disadvantaged areas in Ireland. The new program nurtures small business opportunities between Ireland and the U.S. and the establishment of marketing links.
Mrs. Norma Smurfit, chairperson, says, “FIRST STEP was founded in 1990 in response to the Irish government’s challenge to private industry to try its own methods of job creation without the constraints that limit the efforts of state agencies or banks.” She continued, “To date, we have assisted some 60 projects mainly in the Dublin area. We have raised £700,000 in contributions from the private sector. The money raised has enabled FIRST STEP to trigger both E.C. and other Trust contributions.” She concluded with praise for the Chamber’s ability “to put us in touch with some of the most prominent business people and most powerful organizations in the U.S.”
“This is the kind of practical, grass roots undertaking that merits the enthusiastic endorsement and full cooperation of the Chamber,” says Keogh. “It’s a well planned program of helping people help themselves.” Ms. Margaret Heckler, a former American ambassador to Ireland, agrees. After attending the conference she expressed confidence that the program would prosper. “There is a lot of talent at grassroots level in Ireland,” she states.
Major business projects, as well as initiatives like FIRST STEP, will continue to grow with the help of a solid business network. As Mr. Keogh points out, “The Chamber is the conduit through which many American, Irish and European companies can meet and do business together. It is strictly a business organization and welcomes all executives who share our goals.” With a smile, he continues, “Especially those business leaders in Irish America magazine’s Top 100. We heartily invite them to join in this crusade.” That may prove a sound business proposition for many.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the October 1992 issue of Irish America. ♦
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