100 manufacturing jobs set for Monaghan

 

Monaghan entrepreneur and former founder of Century Homes Gerry McCaughey is to create 100 high-skilled jobs through his Monaghan-based Irish manufacturing company, Entekra.

P art of a €46 million investment and supported by the IDA, the jobs will be in the areas of design engineering, finance, marketing, and customer support.

Entekra, which also has a base in California where it is a major player in the US housing market. McCaughey's business specialises in design, engineering and home manufacturing, providing off-site framing for both residential and commercial construction.

McCaughey, a former EY industry entrepreneur of the year, was the co-founder of timber-frame construction firm Century Homes before selling the business to building materials giant Kingspan for close to €100 million in 2005.

Entekra was supported by Enterprise Ireland at start-up stage. The latest foreign direct investment is being made by Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP), as well as private investors.

Entekra owns a factory in Ripon, 80 miles from San Francisco, in which it invested about $10m last year.

The firm is believed to have looked at building additional factories elsewhere in the US and is likely to expand further in the near future.

“The home construction market is the largest and most inefficient industry in the US,” Entekra CEO Gerry McCaughey is quoted as saying.

“Entekra's technology allows us to manufacture energy efficient homes at speed and scale. It will reduce waste and improve quality of the home construction process.”

 

See this week's newspaper for full report.