UnitedHealth Group today celebrated the grand opening of its new 17,000-square-foot building at Business Park Road in Letterkenny with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Senior executives of UnitedHealth Group based at the company’s Minnetonka, Minnesota, headquarters, led by Chief Financial Officer and President of UnitedHealth Group Operations David Wichmann attended the official opening.
Speaking to invited guests Mr. Wichmann described today’s ceremony as a significant boost to UnitedHealth Group’s growth plans in Letterkenny.
“The Letterkenny site garners much attention at our senior meetings in the United States. The hard work and dedication of the teams here is reflected in the site’s growth since its establishment in 1999. Back then it just had 30 staff. Today it boasts 450 staff and growing.
“A company such as UnitedHealth Group with 63 offices worldwide, and over 87,000 employees, requires people who lead from the front. Over the past day and a half, I have personlly witnessed those traits, albeit, a quiet and highly effective leadership team. I have been extremely impressed by the operations here and the value-add for us as a corporation.
Site Director Padraig Monaghan congratulated the staff of UnitedHealth Group and commented on the high-end IT jobs to be filled in the coming months.
“We are now the second biggest employer in Letterkenny and offer real opportunities for young graduates. From Letterkenny we service globally Our strategic location allows us to give 24/7 support to all our clients. This new facility will come on stream in the coming weeks and we will becontinung to recruti highly-trained and experienced IT and software teams that can grow with our company.
“You may have heard me alude to our strong team here in Letterkenny before; but today I reiterate this point, we are a company that runs a world class business,” said Monaghan.
Representing the Government, Donegal North East Deputy Joe McHugh described today’s official opening as a very positive news day for County Donegal.
“The multi-national sector in Ireland is bucking the trend in terms of jobs growth and this is reflected right here in Letterkenny. 200 jobs represents a significant boost to the local economy, not only for the employees but indirectly it generates millions of euro for the local economy.
“I would also like to pay tribute to Padraig Monaghan and his team for their hard work over the years in successfully growing UnitedHealth Group to where it is today. It joins successful companies like Pramerica, Zeus, SITA and Medisize as our success stories in Letterkenny and we salute the commitment of companies such as these to Donegal and the North West.”
From Letterkenny UnitedHealth Group supports clients in Europe, the Middle-East, the USA and in Asia, and their strategic location allows them to undertake this support 24/7.
The new facility opened today will be home to the company’s new IT teams who will be housed there in the coming weeks and months.
During the three-day visit the US Executives also met with Letterkenny Institute of Technology officials and visited Woodlands National School to see a Junior Achievement Project, a programme supported by UnitedHealth Group.
UnitedHealth Group’s Letterkenny site currently employs more than 450 people across Claims Operations, Transactions, Quality, Finance, Human resources and IT Functions. It was established in July 1999 with just 30 employees.
