There is an important 50th anniversary this month in the midlands. On January 19th, 1950, the first peat-fired electricity station, at Portarlington, Co Laois, came into operation.
Lanesboro, Ferbane and Shannonbridge followed and for a time, with ESB and Bord na Mona work, the midlands had a kind of mini-boom.
At a time when the rest of the State was depressed, there was a thriving footwear and clothing manufacturing base in the midlands and, while jobs were never that plentiful, at least there was work.
In the 1980s, there were major cutbacks in the ESB and on the bogs. Late last month the watercooling tower in Ferbane was demolished by the ESB, as it was no longer needed.
It was a little strange that while the rest of the State seemed to be experiencing good times, the traditional job base in the region was taking a hammering.
In the last two years, companies such as Avon Arlington, Atlantic Mills and Tarquet closed their doors.
Only last week, the Barbour clothing plant announced its closure in Longford with the loss of 115 jobs.
However, it is hoped this may be the last factory closure in the midlands for some time and that a new industrial policy has checked the decline.
Ms Margaret Geaney, the IDA's regional manager in Athlone, is confident the midlands has turned the corner and that an aggressive new marketing strategy is paying off.
"The work that has been done is beginning to bear fruit and we are now getting a return for the work put in. We are getting attention from industrialists and the fact we retain Objective One Status here in the midlands is also an advantage," she said.
Ms Geaney said the arrival of GMAC, a subsidiary of GM, signalled a new kind of job for the area. The financial services industry, to be based in Mullingar, will generate 210 jobs.
"This is a financial services operation and will be moving into the building used by the Oxford Health Plans company which closed some months ago," she said.
"We have lost 1,500 jobs in the midlands area over the past two years, but we have put in place a number of operations which will generate exactly the same amount of jobs over the next two years," she added.