Free Zone financial firm expands into the US

The Atlantic Way Alliance has helped to pave the way for an expansion into the US by a Shannon Free Zone venture and to open up a new chapter in the career of one of its senior staff. When the Atlantic Way played host in June to a business delegation from Florida, it provided a solution to a lengthy search for a suitable location for expansion into the US by PacNet Services.

Formed in Canada by an international team of banking experts in 1994, PacNet set up at Shannon Free Zone in September 2000. Providing a seamless package of financial service, which relieves international operations of the need for opening new bank accounts or agreements, PacNet has developed payment processing facilities for clients throughout the five continents.
“For about a year we have been looking for a location in the United States to set up a new hub operation and while we had a number of options lined up, the people from Florida helped to make our mind up,” explained PacNet managing director Paul Davis.
Things have moved swiftly since the June visit to Shannon by the Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership, which is the promotion arm of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce in Florida. Arising from preliminary discussions during the presentation by the Florida team, PacNet visited Jacksonville.
“We were so impressed with what we saw there and the facilities that were being laid to attract and hold investment by indigenous and overseas firms, that our minds were made up almost straight away,” the PacNet chief executive added.
The Florida promotion team, led by Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, was brought to Shannon by the Atlantic Way as part of its programme of building up networks of mutual interest with counterpart organisations around the globe.
“The Atlantic Way concept mirrors closely similar groups whereby adjacent towns and cities combine efforts and pool their talents and resources to create corridors of commercial success and technological creativity,” said Shannon and District Chamber of Commerce president Ian Barrett, when he welcomed the PacNet expansion.
The expansion is opening up a new international chapter in the career and life of Sara Abanto. She is a native of Peru, where she was a business magazine journalist for eight years before fleeing from a hard-line regime and moving to Canada.
There, she made a complete career change and joined PacNet in Ottawa. Eight years ago she was chosen to join the core team that set up PacNet’s foothold in Europe at Shannon Free Zone.
Sara heads off to Jacksonville next month to put down the groundwork for the commencement of PacNet Services operations in the USA, which should be in mid-2010.
But Sara will not be selling her home at Ballycasey. “My four-year-old daughter is much too attached to Shannon and Ireland for us to leave Ireland permanently and we will be holding onto it,” Sara said.