CETRA Language Solutions Expands into Ireland

Brenna Mulvaney, CETRA -- CETRA Language Solutions, a local translation and interpretation agency headquartered in Philadelphia, has been growing aggressively since 2008. A four-time recipient of the Philadelphia100 Awards, and a finalist for the US Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award, CETRA has opened two additional offices in the U.S. The next step for CETRA? Ireland.

As a company in the language industry, the nature of CETRA’s work is routed in global business. However internationally-linked the company may already be, the expansion to Ireland is significant because Ireland serves as CETRA’s first international outpost following the opening of offices in Washington D.C. and Alexandria, V.A. The Ireland office was opened to better serve CETRA's existing clients and to further grow its client base in Europe.

According to a report from the Common Sense Advisory, while 58.07% of the world’s language service providers are based in Europe, Europe also hosts 42% of the market share in translation. The move will not only bring new business to CETRA, but also provide convenience to our current clients who work frequently in Europe or are based overseas. CETRA’s corporate strategy includes 24/7 operations – CETRA Ireland is a major milestone towards this goal.

CETRA translates for businesses in the United States working with international customers, but also regularly provides interpreters around the world. At the American Bar Association’s Conference on Doing Business in the United States in Beijing, co-sponsored and presented in conjunction with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, CETRA will be interpreting for lawyers and Chinese businessmen at the conference who hope to make the United States a more attractive location for growth of Chinese companies.

While it is an honor for CETRA to work with such a prestigious organization, it also contains timely implications behind the issue of stimulating the American economy pertinent to the recent move to Ireland. This specific project could not come at a better time for CETRA. Other international work includes the Chiefs of Defense Conference in Korea or an annual meeting of a large pharmaceutical company in São Paulo, Brazil.

Working in the language industry also means the CETRA team is very diverse, which creates an exciting and often entertaining work environment. Eleven out of twenty-three CETRA employees were born outside of the United States, including the company founder, Dr. Jiri Stejskal. The in-house staff speaks over twenty languages, and the database of over 1,000 linguists who work as freelancers for CETRA speak over 100 languages.

CETRA also drew upon local Philadelphia resources when thinking about moving abroad. CETRA President and CEO Jiri Stejskal took a more active role as a member in the Irish American Business Chamber to help him plan for the expansion.

CETRA has constantly been promoting Philadelphia as an international city by participating in events with organizations like PCVB, Select Greater Philadelphia, University Science Center, the Global Philadelphia Association and the International Visitors Council, and hopes that its expansion will add greater weight to the notion of Philadelphia as an international city.

_{Photos by Phoebe Peterman, CETRA Project Manager}