Laois Council to spend big promoting 'premier business location' in Portlaoise
Laois County Council has already invested heavily in Junction 17 National Enterprise Park
Laois County Council has embarked on a process which it hopes will attract new business and jobs to Portlaoise by hiring a marketing agency to promote the enterprise park as a 'premier business location in Ireland'.
The local authority invited tenders from qualified and experienced companies to promote the Junction 17 National Enterprise Park located of the M7 Dublin Cork Limerick motorway junction.
The tender notice seen by the Leinster Express / Laois Live says the council's Business Support Unit is seeking to appoint a marketing agency to "coordinate information gathering, develop and deliver a comprehensive, multi-channel campaign to promote the entire J17 National Enterprise Park as a premier business location within Ireland".
The Council has told interested parties that the Park consists of 270 acres of enterprise/industrial zoned lands, which include lands owned by Laois County Council, IDA and private ownership.
The Council adds that it is a strategically positioned enterprise and employment zone at the M7/M8 motorway interchange in Portlaoise.
The tender notice says that the estimated value of the contract is €130,000 with a duration of six months.
The local authority lists some of the companies which have already set up there: Leprino Foods - mozzarella cheese manufacturing facility; Kirby Group - engineering company; Midland Steel - steel fabrication facility; Alpha Drives & Switchgear. It says some of these are already expanding.
The Midland Steel plant in Portlaoise.
A key element was a new link road between the M7 motorway Togher roundabout, Clonminam and Fr Brown Avenue. Costing €3.4 million it provided access to the J17 business park.
The first enterprise in the business park was a joint venture between Glanbia not Tirlán and Leprino in 2021. Leprino, an American firm, now solely operates the site.
Laois County Council bought the land to develop the J17 park from Supermac's founder Pat McDonagh, to create jobs in Laois.