US metal firm may create up to 50 jobs

UP TO 50 new technical manufacturing jobs may be created over the next four years by a US metal coating company in Galway.

Twenty new jobs will be created initially by the Metal Improvement Company with IDA Ireland support, Minister of State for Jobs John Perry announced yesterday.

The subsidiary of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation provides specialised engineered products and services to industries such as material processing.

Its Galway base will specialise in the application of “parylene PVD” coatings which are used in the medical device, electronics and aerospace markets. Galway already has a medical device cluster, Mr Perry said, and the company would support increasing European demand in this sector.

IDA Ireland chief executive Barry O’Leary called the company a “true global pioneer in materials coatings and treatments”, which would “greatly add to the medical device infrastructure” in Ireland.

Separately, print technology maker Memjet has established a new supply chain operation in Dublin as it begins a commercial roll-out of its products. Memjet already has a research and development base here employing 15, but expects to double employment over the next two years.

Memjet vice-president of operations Tony Duddy said the company expected to hire 10 staff over the next year “but a lot of it is going to depend on the number of customers we bring on and the level of integration and engineering challenges they have”.

Investment house Smith Williamson said it intended to develop its presence in Dublin to cater for private clients, trusts, charities and institutions. The move is set to create more than a dozen jobs.