Pat Phelan: Bits, bytes and telecomsA little bit of everything

Tonight we won Cork emerging company of the year presented by The Cork Chamber.
It was an excellent event and huge congrats to Chairman Joe Gantly and his team for running an event of this size, nearly 1000 people sat down for dinner.
Digicel Chairman Denis O Brien was the guest of honor and made an excellent speech.
This prize is really appreciated and I would like to thank all the lads back at base who made this happen especially Bernard Murphy and Chris Kennedy who have been rocks for me for the last few months.

PRESS RELEASE
6 February 2009 –
Eli Lilly Wins Company of the Year Award
Cork SME Company of the Year is Newsweaver
Emerging Cork Company of the Year is Cubic Telecom
Cork Chamber in association with BT, today announced that Eli Lilly is the overall winner of the Cork Chamber/BT Company of the Year Award.
The Cork SME Company (less than 50 employees) Award was won by Newsweaver and the Emerging Cork Company (less than 5 years in business) was awarded to Cubic Telecom.
Presenting the awards at this evening’s Cork Chamber Annual Dinner in City Hall, Leo O’Leary, Head of Business Sales, BT said, “The diversity and quality of entries this year was very impressive, it underlines just how strong Cork business really is. The success of these businesses has far-reaching benefits – to local employment, to the community, to the Irish economy and indeed to companies like BT who can help support your growth. Congratulations to our three winners, all of whom have excelled in their fields of expertise as well as contributing greatly to the growth of the region”.
Speaking about this year’s winners, Joe Gantly, President of Cork Chamber said, “Over the past twelve years the Cork Company of the Year Awards, in partnership with BT, have gone from strength to strength, becoming an established awards programme synonymous with the highest level of performance and achievement in Cork businesses. This evening we acknowledge the successes of three dynamic companies whose diverse management teams have shown tremendous commitment to delivering excellent products and services to their customer base, investing in R&D facilities whilst making a significant contribution to their local economy”.
Announcing details of the Company of the Year Award Mr Gantly said, “Eli Lilly has been operating in Dunderrow, Kinsale since 1981 and today provides high quality employment for 450 personnel in the development and manufacture of a range of pharmaceutical products for Eli Lilly and Company. Eli Lilly supplies innovative, life-saving medicines to customers in over 143 countries worldwide. Investment at the Dunderrow site to date is in excess of €1 billion, with an on-going spend of €50 to €100 million per annum in upgrading and expanding existing facilities. In mid 2007 ground was broken on a new biotechnology facility, an investment of up to €400 million which is due to come on stream in 2011 and currently provides significant contractor employment in the Cork area. We are also pleased to see the company is committed to being a good neighbour and actively supports the local Dunderrow community. Last year €100,000 was donated to neighbouring schools and community groups within the Kinsale and Cork area with an additional €30,000 distributed to staff selected charities”.
Accepting the award on behalf of Eli Lilly, Dunderrow, Mr Dave Urbanek, General Manager, said, “I am delighted to receive this prestigious award on behalf of our manufacturing site at Eli Lilly. It is a great honour to be recognised by Cork Chamber together with BT as the Cork Company of the Year. It is a privilege to be a part of an industry that, through its daily work, positively impacts the lives of millions of people worldwide. Our success over the past years demonstrates the dedication of our employees, community, academic and industry business partners to sustain on-going success of our operations and maintain the Kinsale site as key strategic value to Eli Lilly and Company”.
Announcing details of the Best SME Company Award Mr Gantly said, “Newsweaver has become Europe’s leading email newsletter specialist operating in the niche market of email newsletters. The company has over 800 clients, spanning 25 different countries, and for the last three years has ranked in the top ten fastest growing technology companies in Ireland in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50. Based at their centre in Bandon, a strong management team leads a group of 35 staff, including a full R&D team and staff for business development, customer support and retention. Newsweaver provides businesses with the software and expert advice to implement email newsletter programmes, including consultancy and design services. Over the last five years revenue has grown by over 600% with most growth being from exports to the UK”.
Commenting on the Award, Newsweaver’s CEO Andrew O’Shaughnessy said, “This is a great achievement for Newsweaver and I am extremely honoured to accept this award. We are currently entering a really exciting growth phase in our development and being awarded the Cork SME of the Year Award is a marvellous acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication of all the team at Newsweaver”.
The third award category is Cork’s Emerging Company of the Year which was presented to Cubic Telecom. Announcing the details Mr Gantly said, “Cubic Telecom, set up in 2006, provides global low cost telecommunications with a particular emphasis on mobile cellular global roaming by offering the MAXroam SIM card which replaces your existing SIM card when travelling. The company’s main target customers include corporate and private travellers, many of whom are currently in the US, with particular focus now on China and India whose populations are not protected by any limited roaming rates when travelling. With €2 million invested in the business to date, raised entirely from private investment and two separate R&D groups focused on web-based R&D and mobile telecommunications R&D, Cubic Telecom is maintaining its position as a world leader in global mobile communications”.
Commenting on the award, Cubic Telecom CEO, Pat Phelan said, “I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of everyone in Cubic Telecom. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all of our staff at our Cork and Dublin offices. Cubic Telecom has secured phenomenal growth over the past year, mainly due to an incredible technical team, a continuing commitment to the quality of our product, and the strength of our sales organization. 71% of Cubic’s business is outside of Ireland, and this award will help raise awareness of our new hosted platform services”.
Ends