The American-Israel Chamber of Commerce Southeast Region is planning to announce new Georgia-Israeli business partnerships in the life sciences, telecommunications, homeland security and information technology sectors, as well as upcoming joint events, during a Nov. 4-11 trade mission to Israel.
Gov. Sonny Perdue is to accompany the delegation of Georgia technology and bioscience industry representatives on a trade mission to the Israeli cities of Haifa, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Ra’anana, Tel Aviv and Yokneam-Megiddo.
“Beyond letting Israeli companies know that Atlanta is going to have a non-stop flight to Tel Aviv on Delta Air Lines Inc., we’re going to be making some business announcements,” the chamber’s president, Tom Glaser, told GlobalAtlanta. “We have very specific objectives for this trip,” he said.
In the life sciences sector, Mr. Glaser said companies in the delegation are going to pursue initiatives related to promoting Georgia as a cell therapy center. They will be meeting with Israeli companies to collaborate on bringing an Israeli consortium here to meet with Georgia’s life sciences cluster of some 15 firms, as well as pursue opportunities with the Georgia Tech/Emory Center for the Engineering of Living Tissues. Smyrna-based Cell Dynamics LLC and Proneuron Biotechnology Ltd. are two companies leading this charge, Mr. Glaser said.
In the communications sector, the chamber will also unveil during the mission plans for its 2nd Annual U.S.-Israel Broadband Business Exchange, which is to take place in Atlanta in February. In partnership with Cox Communications Inc., the chamber is to co-host the forum that brings emerging technology companies from Israel and the Southeast to meet with major North American cable broadband companies.
Homeland security technology firms will also be meeting with Israeli counterparts, including Escape Rescue Systems Ltd., a Tel Aviv-based company that has an evacuation solution for multistory commercial buildings. At least five other firms with similar products are to be part of a consortium to meet with the Georgia delegation, Mr. Glaser said. Atlanta-based Vumii Inc., which develops surveillance equipment with its wholly owned research and development subsidiary in Tel Aviv, will be one of the security firms in the delegation.
“We’re going to be investigating opportunities and planning now for next spring to do a program showcasing Israeli security technologies here in Atlanta,” Mr. Glaser added.
In the information technology sector, Mr. Glaser said that chamber members Leland Strange, CEO of Intelligent Systems Corp., and Alex Szlam, inventor of predictive dialing technology, are to be part of the delegation going to Israel and are expected to make an announcement of a new venture.
He added that during an Israeli software conference coinciding with the mission, International Business Machine Corp.’s Global Technology Unit in Israel will be examining the partnership potential with Georgia firms for establishing a U.S. branch of the unit in Atlanta. The Haifa-based R&D lab will be looking for Israeli high-tech companies to bring into IBM’s “disruptive technologies” network, he said.
The chamber currently has some 20 companies represented in the delegation and is still adding participants to attend the business mission to Israel, Mr. Glaser said.
Contact Mr. Glaser at (404) 843-9426 or aiccse@aiccse.org or visit www.aiccse.org for more information.