The local economy in Newtownabbey is made up of a diverse and wide-ranging group of companies spanning various industries. Located in the Business Belt of Northern Ireland, Newtownabbey's firms are in the majority Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME's).

Northern Ireland is a small business economy and at March 2000 had a total of 44,490 businesses (excluding agriculture) registered for VAT. 85% of these businesses have less than 10 employees. In Newtownabbey in 1999, 1,530 enterprises were registered for VAT. The majority of sectors follow the same pattern as for the whole of Northern Ireland. However there are a number of differences:

1) there is a higher than average proportion of the population employed in the Wholesale sector at 24.7% compared to the Northern Ireland average of 16.3%.

2) there is also a high proportion of the population employed in education at 15.7% compared to the Northern Ireland average of 10.6%.

Some sectors have experienced dramatic changes in the numbers employed. In the real estate and business services sectors, employment in Newtownabbey has increased vastly from 671 to 1,145 between 1993 and 1997. This is a local increase of 70.6% compared to the Northern Ireland average of +28.1%. Employment in the Transport sector increased by 32.6% over the same period in comparison to the Northern Ireland average of +14.8%. In the Wholesale sector, an increase in employment of 24.7% (between 1993 and 1997) again compares favourably to the Northern Ireland average of +16.5%.

These statistics not only illustrate Newtownabbey's strength amongst its core employment sectors, but also show great expansion within traditionally non-core sectors like real estate, renting and business activities. This, coupled with the increase in the total number of jobs in the Borough of 4.8% between 1993 and 1997, is a clear indicator that the Borough is making positive steps in creating employment and that the various economic development programmes are being successfully implemented.

In respect of inward investment, there are a number of large and successful companies that have located in Newtownabbey. Some of these include; Boxpak Ltd, Leaf Technologies Ltd, Brett Martin, Rotary Group Ltd, Royal Mail, SX3, Camco (USA), (Japan), F.G. Wilson (Engineering) Ltd (USA), Nortel Networks (Canada), Bombardier Shorts (Canada), Freutauf (Germany), Valence Technology Ltd (USA). The IDBR (Inter Departmental Business Register) shows that there are 26 foreign owned businesses in the Borough.

The Council's Economic Development Section has played a vital role in building and strengthening the local economy over the recent years. We have recently announced a new strategy, which will provide assistance to local people and businesses, resulting in the creation of 200 new jobs over the next three years. The Councils role is to act as a "first stop shop" - a gateway for local businesses and people to access advice and assistance in regards to business start up.

The Economic Development Section is also responsible for sourcing the funding to support these activities. For example, the Council was recently awarded over £1 Million of funding from the European "Building Sustainable Prosperity Programme" to support our local Economic Development strategy. Over £100,000 has been awarded from the Big Lottery fund und for "Information and Communications Technologies" training for targeted groups in the Borough. We have also been instrumental in attracting over £1 Million European funding from the "Leader +" Programme through the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, to further develop our rural communities.

It is the intention of the Economic Development Section to sustain and build on this hard work in order to provide the best possible service for local people and business.