50 Million Euro Investment In New Medical Technology Including 250 New Jobs Secured By Shannon Development And IDA Ireland

Last week, Zimmer Holdings Inc., a global leader in medical devices, announced that it is to establish a new manufacturing operations base in the Shannon Free Zone.

The Irish operation, with an investment of up to €50m in the first two years, will focus on the manufacture of Zimmer-branded knee and hip products, and is expected to create 250 new high quality jobs supported by Shannon Development over the next five years.

Winning this investment was the result of a significant collaborative marketing campaign undertaken jointly by Shannon Development and IDA Ireland. Zimmer, with corporate headquarters in Indiana, is a global market leader in knee and hip products.

Zimmer is the worldwide No.1 orthopaedic leader in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing reconstructive and spinal implants, trauma and related orthopaedic surgical products.

Making the announcement, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin T.D., said: "Zimmer's decision to establish at Shannon Free Zone adds significantly to Ireland's profile as a leading location for medical device companies in Europe.

"The Medical Technology industry is extremely important to Ireland. The industry comprising medical device and diagnostic companies employs 25,000 people in approx 130 companies with exports of almost €5.5 billion per year which is 8% of Ireland's exports. "Zimmer is a tremendous win for Ireland and the Shannon region. "The talent pool of both technical skills and key infrastructure which has resulted in previous investments by leading international medical device companies will be enhanced by the decision of Zimmer to locate in Shannon.

"It was secured as a result of the close co-operation between the two agencies both Shannon Development and IDA Ireland in the face of international competition. Zimmer can be confident of finding highly skilled professionals and infrastructure of international standards in this part of the country as more and more companies are discovering the benefits of locating in regional centres throughout Ireland", the Minister concluded.

"We are delighted to be adding a new location to our global network in Ireland" said Richard Stair, Senior Vice President, Global Operations & Logistics, Zimmer Holdings Inc.

"We are constantly assessing our worldwide operations and logistics network to maximise efficiency and customer service, and this project is a result of that process.

"We are grateful for the co operation and encouragement of the national and local officials in Shannon and look forward to building a facility that utilises the tremendous skills and expertise of the workforce to produce high technology medical devices".