SLIGO UPBEAT ON THE FUTURE - Business people in Sligo are not reluctant to say that things are looking up, but they have reservations. They think there is a lot to be done around the county to fix the problems that the boom may have started, but that got exaggerated by the recession. Stalled property development is a problem. Sligo people depend on quite a few multinationals here for work - the healthcare firm Abbott employs about 1,100 in the northwest and it has been here about 30 years. In advance of the election, the Sligo Chamber of Commerce is asking its members to think about what can be done to retain jobs, and even boost employment, and attract investment.
Professor Terri Scott, the President of the Institute of Technology in Sligo, says the market for graduates has changed considerably in the last few years but points out that there are still lots of opportunities. She says that businesses are understanding the benefits of working closely with colleges with the result that employers are getting access to top class graduates. Citing some recent successes from Sligo such as Equinox AIX and PollDaddy, she says the region has lots to offer.
Architect Frank Pastor, from the practice Hamilton Young, says that although his businss is busy, it would like to be busier. He says his firm is working on projects agreed in 2003 and 2006 and says it takes a long time for work to hit the ground. He says that now is a good time for companies to start looking for developments for future years and adds that the market is very competitive.
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MORNING BRIEFS - REO, which is part of Treasury Holdings, has confirmed the sale of its Montevetro building on Dublin's Barrow Street to Google. Google currently occupies the building almost opposite Montevetro on Barrow Street, and that is owned by Liam Carroll. NAMA chairman Frank Daly said that the agency's outlay - in terms of resources including working capital and expertise to ensure the development was completed on time - had been recovered.
*** DCC has agreed a deal to buy Pace Fuelcare Ltd, a British oil distribution business, from MRH, for €27.7m
*** Minutes of the January meeting of the US Federal Reserve, released yesterday evening, show that Fed officials are increasingly confident of a US economic recovery, but are unsatisfied with the jobs market. Officials raised their growth forecast for this year to a range of 3.4-3.9% from their November projection of 3-3.6%. Unemployment was seen declining only gradually, as the US jobless rate is forecast to be about 9% at the end of this year.
*** The second biggest US bookstore chain Borders has filed for bankruptcy, another blow to an industry hit by competition from electronic readers and online booksellers. Borders said it planns to close about 200 of its 642 stores in the US as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which protects the company from its creditors while it reorganises.
*** On the currency markets this morning, the euro is trading at $1.3555 cents and 84.19 pence sterling.
