Mullingar Chamber of Commerce’s new business development manager says she’s excited about the potential and advantages of Mullingar as a place to do business.
Dubliner Karagh Fox has been itching to get back to the Midlands since she was a child, as both of her parents come from Shannonbridge. Her new role replaces the old position of chief executive officer.
Ms Fox, whose background is in PR and marketing, spent a number of years at Carr Communications and the Communications Clinic before deciding she wanted to work with one company, rather than managing accounts for five or six firms.
If Mullingar has bad national press with stories of rising unemployment and businesses closing, Ms Fox says they haven’t made an impact on her.
She sees the Westmeath county town as a place where people are welcoming and where it’s a great place to do business.
After two days the waitress in the coffee shop knew her name. “That’s an advantage for Mullingar. People know who you are and make it their business to.”
As a Dubliner, she’s “fascinated” at the number of people from the area who want to shop in shopping centres in Dublin.
“I’d come to Mullingar any day,” she says, referring to the “beautiful boutiques and little restaurants”.
Apart from that, she says it’s better for the town and the community for people to shop locally but admits that consumers do need incentives and the Chamber’s role is to “make Mullingar a profitable and a pleasant place to do business”.
That may mean reduced parking rates, discount days and loyalty cards – anything that gets the community on board and shopping locally.
“The chamber is not just there for business,” she says, though she accepts that their role is to support local business and organize events for them.
“But business wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for the community,” she says.
“100 years ago towns survived because everyone knew everyone and did business on that basis.”
Networking is important and will be a focus for her during her tenure here. “Some of the best deals are not struck in the boardroom, they don’t have to be,” she says, adding that it’s vital for businesses and consumers to connect with each other.
“Businesses have to constantly reinforce their presence,” she says. When a customer calls in, “let them know when there are new lines, encourage them to come back. Get people excited.”
She’d like to see Mullingar welcome new business “in a fair way, not charging ridiculous rates and helping as much as possible”. She says it’s important that all organisations, such as the council and the chamber are “pulling in the one direction”.
