Irish companies contemplating international expansion were urged to keep Germany in consideration at a seminar organised by the Shannon Chamber last week.

Highlighting the Shannon Region’s role as a key driver of balanced regional development nationally is one of the key priorities of Helen Downes who has been re-elected to the Board of Chambers Ireland for a further one-year term.

The establishment of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in 2015 heralded the single largest change to the industrial relations state machinery in decades resulting in HR practitioners being continually challenged to keep up to date with employment law developments and the impact of new legislation on their businesses.

In their first year of operation the Skillnet network, Shannon Chamber have received national funding to continue the programme until the end of 2016.

Clare County Council’s efforts in supporting tourism have been rewarded with a place on the shortlist of the Chamber Ireland’s Excellence in Local Government Awards.

Shannon Chamber has welcomed the publication of the Government’s Action Plan for Housing stating that the scarcity of any type of housing including affordable housing in any region is a threat to Ireland’s socio-economic development.

In a move to encourage businesses to initiate or expand their linkages with academia though learning or research, heads of departments and centres from the University of Limerick recently travelled to Shannon Airport to present at a breakfast briefing organised by Shannon Chamber.

A keen interest in ensuring that its member companies remain competitive prompted Shannon Chamber to invite the University of Limerick’s (UL) Science and Engineering faculty, the Kemmy Business School and the School of Law to visit Shannon.

An increasing number of companies in Clare and Limerick are becoming disability confident as a result of a six-month Disability Confidence pilot project undertaken in both counties.