Minister Martin Announces Digital River to Establish European Headquarters at Shannon Free Zone
350 new jobs in new Irish subsidiary supported by Shannon Development
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin T.D., today (Thursday 9th November 2006) announced in Shannon, Co Clare, that Digital River, Inc., a global leader in e-commerce outsourcing, established a new European headquarters at the Shannon Free Zone to support the operations of its subsidiary, Digital River Ireland Ltd. The Irish subsidiary is expected to create 350 new jobs over the next five years with the support of Shannon Development.
Digital River, with corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, builds and manages online businesses for more than 40,000 software publishers, manufacturers, distributors and online retailers. The company’s client list includes market leaders, such as Adobe Systems Incorporated; Canon, Europa, N.V.; CompUSA, Inc.; H&R Block Inc.; Microsoft Corp.; and SymantecCorp.
Making the announcement, Minister Martin said: “Digital River’s decision to establish at Shannon Free Zone adds significantly to Ireland’s emerging profile as a leading e-commerce business centre in Europe. This investment is very welcome news for Shannon and was secured by Shannon Development against strong competition from other European locations. Digital River can be confident of finding highly skilled professionals and infrastructure of international standards in this part of the country. More and more companies are discovering the benefits of locating in regional centres throughout Ireland and Digital River is an example of the type of company we want to attract.”
Digital River’s Senior Vice President of Global Operations, Tim McCauley said: “Our operation in Ireland represents an important part of our long-term strategy to expand our international footprint. By establishing an office in Shannon, we intend to provide added support for our growing base of international clients as well as increase our penetration in European markets. Key influencing factors in our choice of Shannon were a favourable business environment, a high quality of life for employees, and the support of Shannon Development.”
Shannon Development’s Chief Executive, Kevin Thompstone, said: “Shannon Development worked closely with Digital River throughout this investment decision. This is a tremendous boost for Shannon; it is one of the largest projects to locate at the Shannon Free Zone in recent years. One of the economic benefits of a project of this scale is the employment of key skills in e-commerce at customer service, executive and management levels. We believe a project of this scale and technology content will encourage other international technology players to include Shannon in their European location analyses.”
Welcoming the announcement, Mr Tony Killeen TD, Minister for Labour Affairs, said: “This is great news for future employment prospects in County Clare. The Digital River decision to locate at the Shannon Free Zone confirms its position as the flagship location for international industry in this region, with over 7,200 people employed in 109 companies generating €3.5 billion in annual sales”.
Digital River will be locating their new European Headquarters in Westpark-Shannon Business Park. The business campus is being developed adjacent to Shannon Airport.
(This press release is also available on the Department’s website www.entemp.ie)
ENDS/ETE 1665
About Digital River Inc
Digital River, Inc., a global leader in e-commerce outsourcing, builds and manages online businesses for more than 40,000 software publishers, manufacturers, distributors and online retailers. Its multi-channel e-commerce solution, which supports both direct and indirect sales, is designed to help companies of all sizes maximize online revenues as well as reduce the costs and risks of running an e-commerce operation. The company’s comprehensive platform offers site development and hosting, order management, fraud prevention, export controls, tax management, physical and digital product fulfilment, multi-lingual customer service, advanced reporting and strategic marketing services.
Founded in 1994, Digital River is headquartered in Minneapolis with offices in major U.S. cities as well as Cologne, Germany; London, England; Shannon, Ireland; Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Taipei, Taiwan; and Tokyo, Japan. For more details about Digital River, visit the corporate website at www.digitalriver.com or call 001-952-253-1234. ENDS
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