City of Minneapolis honours Tipperary woman for her business acumen
The business acumen of a woman who grew up in Clonmel has been recognised in the USA.
Kathryn Hayes, who was born in Clonmel, was named as the Irish American business woman of the year in Minneapolis recently.
The award was presented by the Minneapolis St Patrick’s Day parade committee.
Kathryn grew up in Clonmel. She was born in 1967 in Clonmel. Her parents were Seamus from Cappawhite who was the former county manager with South Tipperary County Council, and Una Powell from the Old Bridge Clonmel.
After finishing secondary school in Wicklow, Kathryn went to Waterford RTC to study Recreational Management.
Kathryn moved to France in her 20s and studied Viticulture Oenology and lived there for 10 years.
During her time in France Kathryn was a trip planner for Butterfield & Robinson and travelled a great deal around the globe with that job.
Having returned to Ireland at 30-years-old, Kathryn bought a house on Turbot Island off the Galway coast and during that time, reunited with a dear old friend Jennifer from Minneapolis and they are married and living in Minneapolis to this day.
Kathryn returned to live in the USA because of this reunion of love and took a job in marketing and publicity for Tourism Ireland in New York for five years.
Kathryn returned to Minneapolis in 2008 to be closer to Jennifer and in 2009, opened up The Anchor Fish & Chips with her partners Luke from Belfast and her wife Jennifer.
TWIN CITIES
It has been one of the more successful restaurants in the Twin Cities and has employed up to 34 employees before the pandemic.
With the value of Kathryn’s home on Turbot Island being so high at the time, the AIB bank in Clonmel, loaned Kathryn the money against her house to open up The Anchor.
It was an amazing gesture of trust and support from a local Irish bank to support her new venture in Minneapolis.
The award for Irish American business woman of the year - awarded by the Minneapolis St Patrick’s Day parade committee - was a huge honour for Kathryn based on her success as an owner of The Anchor Fish & Chips which is still thriving.
The restaurant has been extraordinarily successful since it opened, even during the pandemic.
This success is very much due to Kathryn’s hard work and vision.
Her charming personality, along with the delicious Irish fare she has brought to the city, have made her a popular figure around Minneapolis.
She is a wonderful person who cares deeply about her staff, her customers, her family and her friends.