The Blass Group represented on Trade Mission to Israel with Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue at a Homeland Security program in Tel Aviv this week reviews Escape Rescue Systems' safety devices.

Governor Sonny Perdue and a delegation of 40 Georgians concluded a technology and trade mission to Israel this week. The governor announced deals concluded by several Israeli and Georgia companies that will produce investment and jobs in both areas ( see stories below ).

Co-sponsored and coordinated by the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Region and the Georgia Department of Economic Development , the mission featured a series of targeted events in Tel Aviv, Caesaria, Jerusalem, Yokneam-Megiddo, and Ra'anana where the delegation met promising Israeli companies and pitched Georgia and AICC's services.

Among the highlights were participation in the Prime Minister's Economic Conference where the governor was a keynote speaker, meeting with Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert , a visit to IBM's Global Technology Unit , a demonstration of Israel's unique evacuation techniques for Homeland Security , and a meeting with Life Sciences companies to promote collaborations in Cell/Tissue Therapy.  The group also enjoyed an evening at the Israel Museum with the Centennial Mission of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta .

Joining Governor Perdue were governmental leaders including State Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams , State Representative Joe Wilkinson , Consul General Shmuel Ben-Shmuel , and GDEcD Commissioner Craig Lesser as well as staffers from the Governor's office and state trade office officials including Sherwin Pomerantz , director of the GDEcD Eastern Mediterranean office in Jerusalem, Renee Rosenheck, Derrick Dickey, and Chris Young from the Atlanta office.

"Israel is a world leader in business and technology, and already one of Georgia's major trading partners," said Governor Perdue .  "This mission generated new economic activity in Georgia and enhanced our state's position as one of Israel's primary business centers in North America."

Leading the Chamber delegation were Board Chairman Andre Schnabl ( Grant Thornton ) and President Tom Glaser and Israel director Ilan Friedman .  Other business participants were Laurie Olivier ( Veritas Venture Partners ), Alek Szlam ( Szlam Enterprises ), Tal Cohen ( ClickFox ), Dr. Larry Cooper ( Bentley Investments ), Charlie Harrison ( Critical Strategies ), Marty Kogon ( Pull-A-Part ), Dr. Bob McNally ( Cell Dynamics ), Jonathan Minnen ( Smith Gambrell & Russell ), Tom Milano ( Delta Air Lines ), Loren Neuenschwander ( Delta Air Lines ),  Leland Strange ( Intelligent Systems ), John McDonald ( JHM Enterprises ), Michael Morris ( travelgirl ), Sherman Cohen ( Arnall Golden Gregory ), Todd Porter ( HT Prof ), Connie Glaser ( Professional Writing Associates ), Jim Boone ( Windship Partners ), Allen Rice ( Savannah Luggage ), Christopher Ruttle ( Vumii ), Ben Sillins ( Blass Group ), Renee Werbin ( SRI Travel ), Dr. Jack Arbiser ( Emory ), Walter Jones ( Morris News Service ), and Curt Friedberg ( Grisanti, Galef & Goldress ).

"This mission exceeded our expectations and produced results of which we can all be proud.  The Chamber was pleased by our leadership role, and pledge to continue the initiatives that were generated this week," concluded Andre Schnabl .

dbMotion to EstablishNorth American Headquarters in Atlanta

Raanana-based dbMotion will headquarter its North American subsidiary in Atlanta.  The announcement was made this week during the Georgia Technology & Trade Mission to Israel .  dbMotion Inc. was established earlier this year to help meet the growing demand for regional health information network (RHIO) technologies in the North American market.

"We chose Atlanta because of the city's proximity to our major markets and the unlimited access to a skilled workforce.  In addition, Israel-based companies are given a great deal of support by the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta," said Peter van der Grinten , general manager, US & Canada for dbMotion, Inc.

"We are delighted to welcome dbMotion to our growing family of Israeli companies that have chosen the Atlanta area for their US or regional headquarters," said AICC President Tom Glaser .  "In addition to our position as one of the top five US centers for Israeli companies, Atlanta is also a leading center in the field of healthcare informatics, and dbMotion will strengthen this sector of our technology economy."

The dbMotion Solution is a Web-based technology that gives participating healthcare organizations secure access to select components of patient medical files maintained at facilities that are otherwise unconnected or have no common technology through which to share data.  This is accomplished by creating a "virtual patient record" (VPR) that integrates relevant patient information, while allowing all source information to remain intact in the original system, location and format.  Data can be shared within and across organizations even if standardization of language and protocols (i.e., interoperability) has not been achieved.

According to company officials, providing real-time access to relevant patient information ensures effective decision-making, accurate diagnosis and optimal treatment.  Further, the dbMotion Solution helps healthcare organizations cut costs by improving the efficiency of care, reducing medical errors and eliminating unnecessary or duplicative lab studies and procedures.

"Georgia is the perfect location for dbMotion Inc. to locate its headquarters," Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue said.    "This technology has the potential to vastly improve healthcare, especially in rural areas.  Increased access to patient information along with tight security controls and privacy protections is a winning combination, and this announcement is indicative of the partnership Georgia is strengthening through our business mission to Israel."

Modi'in-based Resolute Networks announced plans to expand its US operation in Atlanta during the course of 2006. This follows a sharp increase in demand for its solutions in the North American market and other major market developments in the areas of strategic importance to the company.

Resolute opened its US Headquarters in Atlanta in mid-2004, with extensive support from the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, SE Region .  This was followed by the start of collaboration with the Atlanta-based Arris Inc. under the auspices of the US-Israel Bi-national Industrial R&D Foundation (BIRD Foundation).  In February of this year, Arris and Resolute participated in the US-Israel Broadband Exchange , organized in Atlanta by the Chamber and Cox Communications where this transaction was announced, and in June, was recognized as the "Deal of the Year" at AICC's annual Eagle Star Awards Gala .

"With the strong market traction we are experiencing in the US, coupled with the excellent support we are receiving from the AICC in Atlanta, it is a natural step to boost our management and support staff in our office there," said Zeev Pritzker , CEO of Resolute.  "Atlanta is a major telecommunications hub and has a concentration of major broadband equipment vendors that is very central to our market."

"I am very pleased that Resolute Networks has found success in Georgia and is expanding in Atlanta to meet the growing needs of its customers," said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue who participated in the announcement during the Georgia Technology & Trade Mission to Israel this week.  "Telecommunications is a key industry for Georgia, and this announcement shows that we continue to be a leader in this important technology sector."

Atlanta-based ClickFox has opened a major research center in Kfar Saba, Israel .  The Atlanta-based company is a provider of Customer Behavior Intelligence software that models and analyzes customers' step-by-step actions in self-service environments.

"We are very excited that our recent growth has enabled us to expand our operations to take advantage of the excellent technology talent pool in Israel.  This move helps us to accelerate our research and development plans, which will allow us to proactively meet and exceed the requirements of our rapidly growing customer base," said Tal Cohen , President and co-founder of ClickFox.

ClickFox timed the opening of its Israeli facility with Cohen's participation in the Georgia Technology and Trade Mission to Israel , November 5-10, led by Governor Sonny Perdue through the coordination of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Region .

"ClickFox is an Israeli-Georgia success story.  This home grown technology company has seen extensive growth, and I am pleased that it will expand into Israel, further strengthening Georgia's business community roots in the region," said Governor Sonny Perdue .

"From ClickFox's inception, our organization has been instrumental in their success by providing introductions to key Israeli investment firms.  We look forward to the Chamber's continued facilitation of profitable Israel-Georgia business relationships," added AICC President Tom Glaser .

Atlanta-based Asankya , a company that is commercializing innovative network technology developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology , recently closed a financing led by Herzliya-based Veritas Venture Partners , the first venture capital firm in Israel.  Joining Veritas in the investment were the Seraph Group , an Atlanta-based venture fund, and Atlanta angel investor, Steve W. Chaddick , a Georgia Tech alumnus and co-founder of CIENA.  Asankya's technology has previously won grants from the National Science Foundation and Georgia Research Alliance . 

"Asankya is a great example of how Georgia is fostering truly breakthrough technology - invented by Georgia Tech faculty, funded by Georgia grants, commercialized by Georgia Tech's VentureLab, and incubated by the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC).  And now, it has attracted money and expertise from Israel to help grow the business," said Laurence Olivier , Atlanta-based partner of Veritas Venture Partners.

Asankya's patent-pending technology allows network devices to concurrently use multiple paths in a wide-area network (WAN), which enables a new area of networking known as "grid networking."  According to company officials, Grid networking does for networks what grid computing does for computers.  At the finest granularity, grid networking is able to dynamically monitor and use network paths - even if they are available only for a split second.  Asankya's Grid Networking System (GNS) products are installed in the customer network and work independently of the applications that are improved. Once a network is "grid enable," applications run faster and more reliably across WANs.

"Asankya has the only solution that improves real-time applications such as Voice over IP (VoIP), IP television (IPTV), video over IP, SSL transactions and games," said Scott Ryan , CEO of Asankya.  "End-users will only notice better and more consistent application performance while CIOs will notice fewer help desk calls and fewer network-related service issues."

"We are delighted to have funds like Veritas, which is based in Israel, one of the most substantial new technology regions in the world, making investments in start-ups created in Georgia.  This is another indication of the strength of our state's research institutions and provides further momentum for Georgia's growing reputation as a high-tech region," said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue , who made the announcement during the Georgia Technology & Trade Mission to Israel this week.