Government leaders from the Southeast are taking fewer trips to Israel, but they're offering ambitious incentive packages benefiting sectors in which Israeli companies excel, a recent survey showed.

The eight-question survey, conducted by Jones Lang LaSalle and Atlas Insight LLC, examined the Israeli recruitment efforts of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Though budget concerns have reduced the number of visits, many governors and state economic developers have traveled to Israel on business missions over the last five years. Georgia has two official representatives in Israel focused on attracting investment, and North Carolina has an informal partner that funnels Israeli business to the state.

States don't create tax incentives or other enticements with specific countries in mind, but Israel's strengths fit well with the states' strategic industries, the survey showed.

"The states aren't out targeting Israeli companies, but they are out targeting the industries that you're in," Amy Gerber, senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, told an audience at a professional seminar hosted by the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce Southeast in Atlanta last month.

Southern states are recruiting foreign firms engaged in aerospace, defense, life sciences and high-tech manufacturing, areas in which Israel has a competitive advantage. Most of the states have incubators that help high-tech and biotechnology companies get off the ground.

Israel spends more per capita than any other nation on research and development. The country is also a hotbed for startups, particularly in technology.

Medical device companies have found fertile ground in the Southeast. Given Imaging Ltd., which makes pill cameras that provide images of a patient's digestive tract, has its North American headquarters in Atlanta. Much of the Israeli investment in Mississippi has come from medical-device companies, according to that state's development authority.

The Southeast has become an attractive region for foreign manufacturers and distribution firms, thanks to factors including affordable land, advanced logistics infrastructure and a competitive labor environment largely free from union influence, said Brian Corde, Atlas Insight's owner.

Many German firms, especially those involved in alternative energy and the automotive sector, have been investing in the region, he said.

States should continue promoting their incentives to Israel and foster collaboration between universities and companies, showing Israeli firms that they'll have access to qualified employees, Mr. Corde said.

"They need to be able to recruit and maintain the best and the brightest talent from all over the world," he said.

The Southeast has much to offer Israeli companies, but more trade missions and marketing efforts are needed, presenters said.

I think there is a lot to be done to increase the awareness of Israeli companies about places outside of Manhattan and New York," Leonardo Leiderman, professor of economics at Tel Aviv University, told GlobalAtlanta. "When people think about the US typically they think either Silicon Valley in California or New York."

Where they go within the country is a matter of awareness, but the fact that they are looking to the U.S. as their primary partner for trade and investment is unquestionable, Dr. Leiderman said.

"In spite of the fact that Israel is having an increased share of its growth of exports with Asian countries, with India and China and some of the emerging markets, the U.S. remains and will remain the key trading partner for Israel," he said. "This is the place where Israelis can feel like this is like a second home for them."

While trade missions often target large emerging markets, communities sometimes overlook Israel, said Tom Glaser, president of the American Israel chamber.

"You'll see them doing two missions to China, two missions to India per year because they perceive that that's where the money is, that's where the action is," Mr. Glaser said. "Israeli companies must look to foreign markets and the United States is No. 1."

Mr. Glaser added that a more advanced venture-capital scene in the Southeast would attract a greater number of innovative Israeli companies.

"We have 45 Israeli companies in metro Atlanta. I've said that we could have 145 if we were only investing in them," he said.

Atlanta native Brian Rosenzweig, managing partner in Tel Aviv for Janvest Technologies, called for Israeli chamber members to help fill what he called an "investment vacuum" in the Israeli high-tech scene.

In an effort to mitigate risk, institutional investors are holding back until companies prove themselves, and angel investors aren't providing enough funding for companies with budding technologies that haven't yet been successfully commercialized, he said.

"Fewer companies are able to make it to later stages where the VCs get involved. Fewer growth-stage companies mean fewer jobs, less capital in the market, and ultimately a shortage of feeder companies into what we hope will be a growing set of successful israeli startups," Mr. Rosenzweig said.

Janvest pools small capital contributions into larger investments that help fill this gap, he said.

For more information on the American Israel chamber, click here.

For more information on the various incentives states offer to foreign companies, contact Brian Corde via email at bcorde@atlasinsight.com or by phone at (732) 410-456.

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