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City officials visit nation, hoping to attract others to 'biomedical corridor'
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Tuesday, May 27, 2008
An Akron business delegation led by Mayor Don Plusquellic is in Israel today, touting the city's ''biomedical corridor'' in an exhibit at Biomed Israel 2008, a conference to promote the work of that country's science community.
Meanwhile, Akron's three-year effort to entice companies from one of the world's most innovative countries to open their North American headquarters here is close to bearing fruit.
One company is scheduled to make the move this summer and three more are in various final stages of assessment, said Zev Gurion of New Global Strategies, an Akron business consultant working with the city to facilitate the moves.
Cellular Systems International expects to bring five or more of its Israeli employees to a new Akron office by the end of the summer, with the expectation of hiring 20 or more people locally. The company developed technology to identify weaknesses in cell-tower communications.
CSI is one of nine Israeli firms that made presentations to investors, strategic partners and government officials at the Ohio-Israel Innovation Forum hosted by Akron in July.
The other companies are:
• A manufacturer of metal alloy
strips that convey heat through floors, walls, cars and other products.
• The creator of special baby mattresses that reduce the likelihood of death by SIDS.
• A medical firm with a product that monitors blood flow at the capillary level to aid in diagnosing health problems and caring for wounds.
Gurion said the courting of foreign companies is just one prong of Akron's economic development plan. It's equally important to work with existing companies and to support the growth of small domestic businesses.
But opportunities like those presented in Israel — a small country with a disproportionate amount of high-tech companies in search of new markets — will serve to increase synergy in the high-tech and bioscience industries that Northeast Ohio is nurturing, Gurion said.
Letters from mayor
Prior to this week's conference, some 75 Israeli companies received letters signed and sealed by Plusquellic, resulting in 20 individual meetings scheduled this week.
''We want companies that are ready to expand and we want to convince them that Akron is the place,'' Gurion said.
The delegation is well-armed with material that talks about the area's nationally ranked hospitals, major research institutions, strategic Midwest location and a list of available tax incentives and grant programs.
Recipients of the colorful brochures also learn that the Akron Global Business Accelerator recently won a national innovation award, and that the city and other Akron institutions have a $1.5 million investment in Israel's own Targetech Incubator.
Companies will also get a lot of hand-holding, Gurion said. That includes support and advice from the Akron Accelerates Management Team, a group of community stakeholders led by Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Bob Bowman.
Ben Shappley, chief executive officer of SpineMatrix and an adviser to the Akron Biomedical Corridor, also made the trip to Israel this week.
In addition to representing the city at the exhibit, he said he will be looking for business opportunities for his Akron spinal imaging firm — ''companies that might be interested in possible partnerships or licensing agreements dealing with their technologies.''
Beachwood's experience
Vince Adamus, CEO of the Beachwood Chamber of Commerce, said he can testify to the benefits of attracting Israeli companies to the region. In the past three years, his city has helped half a dozen businesses set up shop in the Beachwood Business Development Center.
Currently, the companies are comprised of simple offices, some staffed with employees that relocated from Israel, others with new management teams hired locally.
The hope is that as the companies grow, more jobs will be created and intellectual partnerships will spin new ideas.
''We do look for companies that meet certain industry profiles,'' Adamus said, noting biomedicine, instrument clusters, aeronautics and aerospace and alternative energy.
''They're industries that track with what the state of Ohio is looking to facilitate and work nicely with our own region's interests,'' he said.
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
An Akron business delegation led by Mayor Don Plusquellic is in Israel today, touting the city's ''biomedical corridor'' in an exhibit at Biomed Israel 2008, a conference to promote the work of that country's science community.
Get the full article here.
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