By MICHAEL McDONNELL michael@northern-standard.ie
LAST FRIDAY marked another red-letter day for Monaghan’s cutting edge forklift manufacturer Combilift, when Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD visited its headquarters to announce plans for the creation of 200 new jobs at the company and the development of a new €40 million plant adjacent to the Monaghan bypass.
The jobs are expected to be created over the next five years, with a high percentage of the posts being for skilled personnel such as technicians and design engineers, as the company signalled an intent to work in collaboration with the nearby Monaghan Institute, which has given a commitment to provide relevant training programmes to ensure an adequate local supply of skilled workers with the relevant training.
The joint approach signalled by Combilift and Monaghan Institute in this regard was underlined by the Taoiseach’s second major event in Monaghan on Friday, the official opening of the Monaghan Education Campus. The fact that the 40-hectare greenfield site for the new Combilift factory (beside the site of Monaghan Fire Brigade) is situated relatively close to the Education Campus might be taken as auguring well for the future of both entities.
A further 200 jobs will be created during the two-year construction period of the new Combilift facility. The company’s investment programme has been supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland, and is expected to see Combilift double its current €150 million turnover over the next five years.
The news will come as a welcome boost to the local economy, particularly in light of the recent job losses announced at the Bose factory in Carrickmacross. Combilift, which already employs over 300 people at its current facilities in Monaghan town and in Clontibret, has been at the centre of a number of “good news” announcements over its 16-year history.
It now plans to invest €40 million in completing the purpose-built, 40,000 square metre greenfield global HQ and manufacturing facility at the bypass site, complete with a devoted research & development building and adjoining back office facilities.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that it was “growing and dynamic Irish companies …
