First sod to be turned on Dexcom Athenry on Friday

The first sod will be turned on a major new manufacturing facility in Athenry on Friday.

It’ll be US multinational Dexcom’s first European plant – and it’ll create 1,000 permanent jobs.[Dexcom – which manufactures high-tech diabetes equipment – is headquarted in California and operates manufacturing plants in Arizona and Malaysia.

And it deemed Athenry to be the best prospect for it’s first foray into Europe, with a four story manufacturing facility receiving planning permission in October.

It’ll be located at an IDA site on the western edge of Athenry, and will create a thousand new permanent jobs, as well as another 500 during the construction phase.

The announcement was heralded as a game-changer for the town, with the project estimated to represent an investment of €300m over a five year period.

Included in the plans are an outdoor landscaped plaza and a 2.1km nature trail, as well as new access roads and pedestrian footpaths and crossings.

The first sod on the development will be turned on Friday afternoon – and for many, the symbolic move will signal the beginning of a new era of prosperity for Athenry.