Entekra, a design, engineering and home manufacturing company, is to create 100 jobs in its Irish operation. The Monaghan-based business is hiring following a $55m investment.
Headed up by Century Homes co-founder Gerry McCaughey (pictured), Entekra has offices in Monaghan and in California, where it plies most of its trade.
The firm specialises in off-site framing for residential and commercial construction, and was founded in 2015. Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland are among the agencies to have provided supports to Entekra since its inception.
According to Entekra, the 100 jobs will be in the areas of design engineering, finance, marketing and customer support. It secured the $55m investment from the Louisiana-Pacific Corporation and private investors.
“The home construction market is the largest and most inefficient industry in the US,” said Gerry McCaughey. “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.”
In Association with
A 2003 EY Entrepreneur of the Year winner, McCaughey sold Century Homes to Kingspan in 2006. From 2009 to 2014, he was chief executive of Infineco, which he also founded. Infineco provided consultancy services to businesses moving to off-site construction and green building practices.
The $55m investment in Entekra was led by Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, a building materials manufacturer headquartered in Tennessee and operating since 1973.
Heat Merchants
Separately, Heat Merchants Group announced plans to create up to 75 jobs as part of a €4m investment programme.
The programme will involve opening nine new Heat Merchants branches and four additional Tubs & Tiles showrooms over the next three years. The group sells heating, plumbing and home improvement materials to the professional and retail markets in Ireland.
Once completed, Heat Merchant Group will have 56 outlets nationwide and its workforce will increase to 358. The company is also increasing its central distribution and business support centre in Athlone, with the addition of an extra 20,000 square feet of warehousing.
The Irish business came into being when the Heat Merchants and Tubs & Tiles businesses were acquired following the liquidation of BHT Group in 2012.
Alan Hogan, managing director of Heat Merchants Group, announced the expansion plans. “The last five years have seen the addition of 82 new employees, the opening of several new branches and the extensive renovation and rebranding of our existing branch infrastructure,” he said.
