Through this series of education events, the Collaboration’s partners shared their plans to strengthen South Carolina’s economy through business and research partnerships with Israel; examples of how Israel has become the “Start-up Nation” with the world’s top entrepreneurial innovation economy; case studies of Israeli companies establishing an operation in the state and a South Carolina company finding success in the Israeli market; collaborative research between South Carolina and Israeli universities;  and a week-longeconomic and trade mission to Israel in November for a delegation of South Carolina’s industry and scientific leaders.

“South Carolina does not have much recognition in Israel, but that is going to change very soon.  I have never seen such an outstanding group of universities, economic development entities, and private sector working so well together, and I’m excited to see that industries and researchers in the state are embracing this dynamic Collaboration that shows so much potential,” said AICC President Tom Glaser.

In addition to AICC, partners in this effort include Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, and the Medical University of South Carolina; the Chambers of Commerce in Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston; the Jewish Federationsin the state; the US–Israel Science and Technology Foundation; New Carolina; SCRA; the Charleston Regional Development Alliance; the American Israel Educational Institute;  the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast; and the Israel Economic Mission.

“From our company’s experiences, Israel is an amazing country in which to do business and find innovation.  Israel is already an important trade partner for our state, and we’ve been impressed by the business and research potential that can elevate the economies of both South Carolina and Israel,” said Jonathan Zucker, President of The InterTech Group who is chairman of the South Carolina-Israel Collaboration.

AICC created a special website to promote the Collaboration.  For details, visit www.sc-israel.org.

Visionary Israeli business leader Todd Dollinger is the luncheon keynote speaker for this year’s Professional Seminar.  Organized by the Chamber’s Professional Committee, the half-day seminar is AICC’s premier annual educational event.  It will be held on Thursday, August 25th, 7:30 AM-1:00 PM at the Selig Center in Midtown Atlanta.

CEO of The Trendlines Group, Dollinger is one of Israel’s most successful entrepreneurs who will share his experiences of over 20 years in being an integral part of the Start Up Nation since making aliyah.  Trendlines is the owner and operator of two Israeli government licensed business incubators– Misgav and Mofet B’Yehuda as well as Signal Business Development, and they also invest in their portfolio companies that concentrate on medical devices and cleantech, nurturing high-promise companies while mitigating seed-stage investment risk.

“We’re fortunate to have Todd Dolliiner headline this year’s seminar.  His knowledge of what it takes to create and take Israeli technology companies into the global marketplace will be especially relevant to our audience,” said AICC Professional Committee Chairman Ben Fink (Berman Fink Van Horn).

The Professional Seminar will also feature a presentation by Israel-based IT network management company Centerity Systems; the case study of Arab Israeli owned medical device company Alpha Omega; the case study of the acquisition of Atlanta-based Vumii by Israel-based Opgal; perspectives by Tel Aviv-based Fruition on funding early stage Israeli companies; and insights of Procter & Gamble into how major corporations are scouting Israeli innovation that is the inspiration for AICC’s new Corporations initiative.

Corporate sponsors to date include The Coca-Cola Company, Applied Economics, Ackerman & Co., Atlanta Jewish Times, Ballard Spahr, BDO, Berman Fink Van Horn, Dale Schwartz & Associates, Fifth Third Bank, Fish & Richardson, Friedman Dever & Merlin, Swerdlin & Co., Williams Benator & Libby, and Woodcock Washburn.  If interested in sponsoring, contact Cheri Levitan (cheri@aiccse.org).

Organizational co-sponsors include American Israel Education Institute, Atlanta Bar Association – International Transactions Section, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Atlanta Venture Forum, Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast, Georgia Department of Economic Development, Israel Economic Mission to the US South, World Chamber of Commerce, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber – Global Commerce Council.

Controlled by chairman Georg Salkind, the company founded Elco Landmark Residential in 2008 to operate in the US market by finding opportunities, mostly residential projects, created by the sub-prime crisis. The latest deal increases the company’s holdings to 15,000 housing units, owned in full or in part, and 20,000 managed properties.  Most of the properties are in Georgia, Florida, and Texas.

Elco is also parent to Electra Real Estate that owns seven office buildings in various US cities including Atlanta’s historic Hurt Building that it acquired with Harbor Group International in 2007.  They are among several Israeli institutional investors, including Gazit-Globes’ Equity One unit, that have significant investments in Southeast real estate.

ActivePath’s breakthrough email banking technology redefines the way financial institutions communicate with their customers.  By creating a secure email channel for bi-directional communication with customers, their solution simplifies and personalizes the digital banking experience.  Cardlytics’ transaction marketing platform uniquely gives retailers a way to present relevant offers to targeted consumers – directly in their bank statement – where they are most likely to be noticed and acted upon.  Retailers can quickly and easily adjust the placement of offers to maximize their results, providing a far higher level of efficiency than has previously been available with any other marketing vehicle.

“We are very pleased to enter into this marketing agreement with Cardlytics.  By coupling our secure email banking system with Cardlytics’ transaction-driven marketing, banks have another communication channel available for retail offers. As a result, banks enhance the customer experience and improve the effectiveness of marketing offers to help increase the bottom line,” said Renan Levy, CEO of ActivePath.

Through this partnership, the two companies point out that banking customers can now receive enhanced offer-carrying eStatements directly into their inbox to be viewed and transacted from within the email message at their convenience without the need to log on to the bank’s website or download the statement.  Additionally, the partnership will provide banks and retailers with the ability to utilize
transaction-based marketing in the eStatement, a win-win solution that can help increase transaction volume, enhance customer relationships and generate new revenue.

“Through our partnership with ActivePath, financial institutions can now further their capability by providing offers through secure email. We are excited about the opportunities this will bring to banks and their customers, and we look forward to working together to drive retail advertisers’ purchase activity through another communication channel,” added said Scott Grimes, CEO of Cardlytics.

Paul Gianneschi, Managing Principal at Hatch Medical commented, “Israel is recognized as a leader in life science innovation and we are excited to be working with Aaron in identifying cutting-edge medical device technologies for commercialization. Having a local presence in the Israeli market is expected to provide us with access to promising early-stage technologies and will allow us to effectively source innovative technologies and devices for our U.S. and European clients.”

According to Feldman, the response to Hatch Medical among Israeli companies has been enthusiastic. “Being itself a nimble, entrepreneurial-minded firm, Hatch Medical is uniquely in tune with the mindset and particular needs of the typical Israeli R&D company,” stated Feldman. The collaboration has already resulted in a consulting project, with discussions currently underway with a number of companies for business development projects.

For additional information on this, or on Hatch Medical, L.L.C., e-mail the company at info@hatchmedical.com, or call 770-476-9940. This release and additional news about Hatch Medical can be obtained by visiting the company’s web site at: http://www.hatchmedical.com.

U.S. and Israeli Companies to Explore Health IT Partnerships at Atlanta Business Exchange

American-Israel Chamber of Commerce pre-qualifies companies to participate in one-on-one meetings

ATLANTA, March 14, 2011 — Georgia ranks No.1 in the U.S. in health-care IT industry revenue, generating $4 billion in revenue last year. As the country’s hub for health IT, it’s little wonder that leading U.S. and Israel-based health IT companies are convening in Atlanta on April 11-12 to explore partnerships that could lead to improved and more innovative health solutions. The U.S.-Israel Healthcare IT Business Exchange, sponsored by the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC), provides major U.S. stakeholders in health IT with access and introductions to the leading Israeli technology companies in this sector. This year’s event takes place at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute.

The goal of the Business Exchange is to foster joint venture research and development, investment and marketing alliances between the U.S. and Israeli companies. Toward that end, the AICC pre-qualifies companies to participate in one-on-one meetings, pairing them based on common goals and complementary technologies.

“The AICC Medical Committee’s healthcare IT experts have worked to identify cutting-edge Israeli companies whose products and services are built for tomorrow’s health IT landscape,” said Dr. Mark Braunstein, associate director of Georgia Tech’s Health Systems Institute. He was co-founder of PROHECA, an early developer of clinical pharmacy systems that was the forerunner of NDCHealth, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Patient Care Technologies, Inc., and a past chairman of the AICC.

“As this new era of healthcare computing unfolds, this unique Health IT Business Exchange will offer U.S. corporations the opportunity to engage with these Israeli companies in an effort to foster business relationships and meet the growing needs of the marketplace,” Braunstein added.

Atlanta, epicenter of U.S. Healthcare IT

The selection of Atlanta as the location for the Exchange was strategic. With more than 100 established healthcare IT companies headquartered in Georgia, many in the metro area, Atlanta is considered the epicenter of healthcare IT in the U.S.

With Federal stimulus funding driving technology adoption, U.S. healthcare companies are more engaged than ever before in developing new IT practices. Israel, however, has been at the forefront of new healthcare technologies for many years and boasts a nationwide electronic healthcare records adoption rate of more than 90 percent.

This year’s Exchange is the fourth time the AICC has focused on HIT; the first event was held in 1994. McKesson, a leading healthcare services and information technology company with offices in Atlanta and a sponsor of this year’s Exchange, acquired Medcon, an Israeli company providing web-based cardiac image and information management, for $105 million in 2005. The relationship between the two companies originated through an AICC introduction.

“The Business Exchange allows us to have very focused discussions with interesting technology companies,” said Randy Hyun, senior vice president, strategy and business development, McKesson Corporation. “At McKesson, we are always interested in learning more about unique solutions that can add value to our healthcare provider customer base. In general, we find that many Israeli companies are on the cutting edge of healthcare technologies and solutions.”

Israeli Success in Atlanta

Other Israeli technology companies have also found enduring success in Atlanta. Given Imaging, (NASDAQ: GIVN), a world leader in specialty GI products and the pioneer of capsule endoscopy,
is based in Yokneam, Israel and chose Atlanta for its North American headquarters in 2001.

“Atlanta is an ideal location for Israeli companies to expand their North American footprint,” said Skip Baldino, president – Americas, Given Imaging, Inc. “Atlanta offers close proximity to world renowned universities, a large trained workforce, many of the leading U.S. medical centers and facilities and a business community that is very supportive of Israeli companies. I encourage both U.S. and Israeli companies to participate in this year’s Healthcare IT Business Exchange.”

Kobi Margolin, co-chair of the event, seconds that remark. Currently CEO of an Atlanta-based health IT company, Clinigence, Margolin originally came to Atlanta several years ago to run the U.S. operations of an Israeli company, Algotec that was eventually acquired by Kodak.

“My own experiences, first at Algotec and now with Clinigence, emphasize Atlanta’s welcoming business environment and the wealth of healthcare IT opportunities that abound throughout the state and region,” Margolin said. “The Business Exchange is our way of paying it forward to the U.S. market. Israeli companies have so much to share with their American counterparts in terms of unique technology and innovative solutions to healthcare’s most pressing challenges.”

Assa Reichert, who serves as the Israel chair of the event, observed, “The Business Exchange brings together the best of Israel innovation with the firepower of America’s most respected healthcare IT companies and users. The result is an unprecedented opportunity for participating companies from both countries to forge dynamic partnerships that have the potential for changing the healthcare IT landscape.” Reichert is executive vice president at HealSis Ltd., an Israeli healthcare consultancy.

For more information about the 2011 U.S.-Israel Health IT Business Exchange and to apply to participate, visit the event’s website at www.usisraelexchange.com .

About the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce

The American-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) is a bi-national business association with the mission of increasing economic development by fostering understanding, cooperation and business relationships between Israel and the Southeast. Since its founding in 1993, AICC has been involved in completed transactions valued at more than $950 million, creating jobs and benefiting the economies of both Israel and the Southeast. AICC targets a range of projects involving import, export, research and development, direct investment and joint ventures. Key areas of focus include software, telecommunications and energy.

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Contact:
Katie Brazel
Fleishman-Hillard
404-739-0150