County Chamber CEO to be appointed early next year
A CEO is due to be appointed next month to develop a Wexford County Chamber with offices in Gorey, Wexford and New Ross.
Chamber President Sean Reidy was brought in as president for the first two years in October and he is confident the organisation can be successful.
His first job is to get the chamber board formed.
Mr Reidy said: ‘The articles and memorandum of association have to be adopted and each of the three existing chambers have to be wound down. Then the new structure has to be put in place beginning with the members, a president, a vice president, a board, a CEO, a deputy CEO three strategy committees, an executive in each town, with CE scheme staff.
‘The staffing structure is not fully decided yet but there will be a strong presence in every town. Enniscorthy haven’t come in yet but we are hoping they will come on board.
‘The chambers throughout Ireland developed on an ad hoc way. You got a different emphasis for different chambers. Some chambers would grow out of a trader’s association and would have been very much retail based. Others would have very strong business and industrial people.’
At the moment the most important next step is the appointment of a CEO.
‘The probability is that we will have a shortlist of three. We have very strong candidates, including some from within the county, but that is not a prerequisite for the role. We have seven really strong contenders for the €80,000 a year role.’
The position has been advertised through three recruitment agencies and through the chamber network.
The new Chamber will operate from January 1. ‘Chambers Ireland are very supportive. The major support is coming from Wexford County Council. This has been approved in their estimates for next year so money will now be transferring in order to get us off the ground for the first three years and we would be hopeful some level of funding would continue thereafter.’
The CEO is due to be appointed in January, he said. ‘Things will have to happen quickly. The next step will be to put the executive in place.
‘Each chamber developed in a different way and each chamber will be looking at its own objectives. Our first and foremost role is to be the main voice for business in the county. We have to look at how we can look at our partners about how to create and to sustain jobs by working with the IDA.’
Attracting a major company to New Ross in the next three years is the main goal in New Ross, with Wexford and Gorey having other goals. ‘A prospectus for each town will be developed. We have to be able to go out there and punch at our weight and even above our weight when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment.’
The chamber headquarters will be in Wexford but there are well appointed meeting rooms in Gorey and New Ross where executive meetings can be held.
He praised the job creation focus of county manager Tom Enright. ‘While they can put in the infrastructure it’s the private sector that is going to create the jobs. He wants to develop a really good relationship with the business community in the county. So we are a conduit they can deal with within the business community; one voice and one group of people with which they can operate.’
The amalgamation process has not been without its tensions and there will continue to be a competitive element within the ‘county’ structure as each of the three chambers tries to do its best to attract companies and business for local chamber members.
‘I think every town will want to fight for its own agenda. Each of the towns has its own very distinct personality. From my point of view, if my son or daughter or my grandson can get a job in Gorey or Wexford, I would prefer them to get a job here in Co Wexford than in Melbourne or Dublin. The county has gotten so small with the road network. I also think that each of the towns have their own unique strengths and weaknesses.’
Mr Reidy has met with the chairman of Enniscorthy Chamber. ‘I would hope Enniscorthy coming on board is inevitable as together we are better. There are economies of scale and if the county council or agencies are dealing with the one body it’s easier.
‘I still think what’s really important is the unique personality of each town and that there is a strategy committee in each town. It’s almost mirroring the county council structure where you have your district committees so we can work together with the district committee here.’
He said the chamber needs to have its own independent voice and will not be compromised by the county council.
‘When you put on a county jersey, it’s so powerful. You hear a man like Liam Griffin who talks about the pride in the jersey which has not only to do with hurling, but with every aspect of life. You take someone in America, they want to come to the county they came from and the parish they came from, not just Ireland. Where we can we must try to capture pride in the county.’