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An Atlanta-based business organization that for three decades facilitated investment links between Israel and the Southeast U.S. is set to wind down its operations in the new year.
Conexx: The America-Israeli Commercial Alliance voted in mid-November to disband its board of directors and suspend membership activities, appointing five “authorized persons” who have until March 31 to find an appropriate successor or dissolve the nonprofit.
“This is the unfortunate state of Conexx in its current form and the result of an inability to obtain sufficient financial resources and human resources to continue the organization in a viable format,” Conexx Board Chair Randall Foster wrote to the organization’s stakeholders in an email.
Ten years ago, Conexx itself was the successor to another organization — the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce Southeast, which in the early 1990s began fostering trade missions and cross-border introductions that helped close major deals, raise millions in capital and enable joint research and commercialization efforts.
The group hosted professional development programs and held its annual Eagle Star Awards Gala to celebrate links between the region and Israel, highlighting “deals of the year” and praising partnerships that exemplified the special relationship between the so-called “Startup Nation” and the United States.
A rebrand in 2014 dropped the “Chamber” name and moved to capture more of the value the organization’s leaders believed it had helped create. Conexx’s first president, Shai Robkin, also envisioned it being less constrained by geography, given that many Israelis were less familiar with the Southeast than other parts of the country.
After a five-year burst of energy, the pandemic posed challenges to an operating model built on memberships and events, leading to a deeper focus on fee-for-service programs that started in 2021 under new leadership. In 2023, facing funding issues, the organization moved to an all-volunteer model.
Later that year, Israel was attacked by Hamas, then invaded Gaza to root out the U.S.-designated terrorist organization. With the war still raging more than a year later, travel and investment in the country have declined.
Earlier in 2023, Delta Air Lines Inc. had restarted a nonstop flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv, postponing it soon after the Oct. 7 attacks. Conexx condemned the “pure evil” of the massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and the kidnapping of 250 hostages, calling for Atlantans to support Israel in its time of need.
“As a primary business conduit between Israel and the U.S., Conexx and our community members have experienced Israel’s thriving innovation-oriented economy and its countless contributions to the world in science, technology, and medicine,” the organization wrote in a notice to members at the time. “Conexx urges everyone to support Israel, reject hate, and combat antisemitism wherever it arises.”
Acknowledging that many in the community still believe there is a need for the services Conexx provides, in his more recent letter Mr. Foster said the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast, located in Atlanta, had agreed to host a forum in early 2025 “to determine what might be created with a clean slate to start.”
He encouraged Conexx stakeholders to stay involved in that process.
Read the full announcement here.
The Pendleton Group is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta's Economic Development Channel. Subscribe here for monthly Economic Development newsletters.