Governor Haslam at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
The Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga announced Thursday that Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam will visit the Jewish Cultural Center, 5461 North Terrace Road, on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 3:45 p.m. to talk about his recent visit to Israel.
There is no cost to attend this event but RSVPs are strongly suggested as space is limited. RSVP to 493-0270 ext. 10 or rsvp@jewishchattanooga.com.
Governor Haslam led a business trip to Israel from Aug. 29-Sept. 3, focused on expanding relationships between Tennessee and Israeli business communities, encouraging bilateral trade and investment opportunities, specifically focused on high tech, biomed and healthcare firms. In addition to Governor Haslam and the Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd, the Tennessee delegation included 18 leaders from Tennessee businesses and research institutions. They met throughout the week with Israeli peers from research institutions, government, venture capital firms and business.
An "innovation powerhouse," Israel is now home to many major technology players such as Google, Intel, IBM, Facebook, Microsoft and many others. Israel was ranked No. 5 out of 50 in the Bloomberg Business Global Innovation Index in 2014. Advances in healthcare technology, particularly in medical imaging, are changing the way medicine is practiced, and the U.S. and Israel are on the forefront of this wave of innovation, said officials.
In Jerusalem the delegation met with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as venture capital firms, research institutions and accelerators such as: OurCrowd, an equity-based crowdfunding platform; JVP Funds, now with over $900 million under management; Hadassah/Hadasit Hospital, and BIOJERUSALEM, an initiative of the Jerusalem Development Authority committed to growing Jerusalem into a thriving life sciences center of sustainable enterprises and solid investments, grounded on cutting edge innovation, and, Yissum ,a research development company of the Hebrew University, said officials.
Visiting Tel Aviv, the delegation learned about Teva Pharmaceuticals, ORT Israel, the leading educational network of comprehensive schools in Israel, specializing in the high-tech and science fields, Trendlines: an innovation commercialization company that invents, discovers, invests in, and incubates innovation-based medical and agricultural technologies, and Israeli Advanced Technology Industries, the largest umbrella organization representing the high tech and life science industries with over 500 members. The delegation also met with the Federation of Israeli Chambers and the Israeli Chamber of Commerce, and visited the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
In the north, Nazareth, the tour continued with a visit to Kibbutz Ein Hashofet to explore their adaptations to technology research and development, and a stop at Nazareth Industrial Park, a model of Arab-Jewish cooperation in a region of diverse populations.
In Haifa, the delegation met with Rambam MedTech, the technology transfer company for Rambam Medical Center (Health Care Campus), Technion T3/Technion Technology Transfer, and the Haifa Economic Corporation.
Located at 5461 North Terrace, the Center and its programs are open to everyone regardless of religious affiliation.
Governor Haslam with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel