Chamber puts Newry on the map during Washington trade visit

The aim of their four-day trade visit was to promote Chamber members, Newry City and the Greater Newry Area to potential investors and companies in the US as a destination to invest in and do business.

The Chamber Team represented its 300+ members at the InterTradeIreland 25th Anniversary Event in the Peace Building in the US Capital and were present at the 12 other events throughout the week.

Positive engagement came against the backdrop of impressive speeches and a strong display of collaboration by First Minister, Michelle O’Neill MLA and Deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly MLA.

The Chamber Team were warmly welcomed and engaged at a personal level with over 150 key influencers and business leaders from the United States and presented each of them with a specially commissioned storyboard business card which outlined the region's unique position as the new Gateway to the UK and European Markets for American companies.

Many of the events were attended by US Special Economic Envoy for NI, Joe Kennedy III who had several conversations with the Chamber Team who stressed the need for our City and wider region to be the third spoke on the NI/US Investment wheel, stressing how our location puts us in a prime position to take advantage of the opportunities flowing from the Windsor Framework and the Command Paper.

The events the Newry Chamber Team attended included:

• Federation of Small Business Roundtable Event
• Women in Business NI Vital Voices Event
• Queen’s University ‘Building Peace & Economic Opportunity’ Event on Capitol Hill
• Queen’s University Business Networking Dinner
• Irish Business and Employers' Confederation (IBEC) Washington Networking Dinner
• InterTradeIreland 25th Anniversary Networking Event
• The Ireland Funds Washington Networking Gala
• Northern Ireland Bureau Networking Breakfast Event
• Trade NI Business & Economic Reception
• Executive Reception hosted by Special Economic Envoy for NI, Joe Kennedy III
• The Irish Embassy St. Patrick’s Networking Reception
• The British Embassy Washington St. Patrick’s Networking Breakfast Event
• American Chamber Ireland St. Patrick’s Networking Breakfast Event

Reflecting on a busy four days of networking, Edwina Flynn, President of Newry Chamber said: “The reception the Newry Chamber Team received in Washington D.C. was amazing and we made a real connection with the business and political leaders in the US Capital.

"Our message was clear, Newry is open for business and we are uniquely placed as the gateway to both the UK and European Markets given our location on the northern side of the border. Our promotional material was well received and we made our mark on what was a positive week for Northern Ireland in the United States."

Michael Savage, CEO of Newry Chamber added: “While the few days were filled with hectic engagement, we made a lot of excellent contacts all of whom were extremely positive towards the Newry narrative. Now that we have contacts developed, the Chamber will be working hard over the coming months to ensure that real economic dividends start to flow for this area and Newry is established as a great place to do business in the hearts and minds of US investors and business and political leaders."