Nurit
Greenger
My mother used to say, "no one will knock on the
door seeking you; you always have to be out there meeting the world."
Life is a dynamic course in living and is forever an introduction
to new people, new ideas and new things. Only if you are out there doing the
rounds with open eyes.
Last week was one of those learning moments.
In a meeting over a lovely Shabbat Dinner, catered by Factor's Famous Deli
(http://www.factorsdeli.com/), that took place in Los Angeles and
organized by Jacob Segal of Southern California-Israel Chamber of Commerce (SCICC), a
non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to fostering bilateral
business, trade and investment opportunities between Southern California and
Israel, I had the privilege to be introduced to the Merage Institute and the top
officers of 18 Israeli Clean Tech
Companies, who are taking a course at the Merage Institute.
The
companies to have been introduced in this particular event are in the advanced
stage of developing technologies for water treatment, recycling water waste, saving
energy for wastewater treatment plant, oil spill absorption, solar air conditioning,
energy conservation, maximizing the power generating for solar plants, environmental
friendly filtration solutions, to mention a few.
So
what do the SCICC, the Merage Institute and 18 Israeli Clean Tech Companies have in common?
The
Merage Institute, Paul Merage, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, located in Newport
Beach Southern California, (http://www.merageinstitute.org/) promotes
trade, as a vehicle to economic growth, between Israel and the United States.
The way the institute accomplishes this goal is through a number of innovative
initiatives, including specialized Leadership Programs concerning U.S.
marketing strategies to Israeli executives in the life sciences, security,
military, IT areas and more. The Institute also features an innovative business
development component beginning with introductions to relevant U.S.
entrepreneurs who may be interested in cooperating with value-adding Israeli
businesses. The institute faculty members include professors from some of the finest
business schools in America and highly respected CEOs and leading
practitioners.
Since
the heads of the Israeli companies are taking a course at the valuable Merage
Institute, SCICC (http://www.scicc.biz/) took upon itself to act as the conduit
and introduce them to its members. SCICC
conducts such meetings every so often, whenever there is an Israeli company in the city that needs an introduction.
What many do
not know it that the secret lies in the new approach the state of Israel has taken.
Being constantly
under political and also economic attack, by the Boycott, Divestment and
Sanction (BDS) movement and its cohorts, Israel has been travelling on a new
road.
In
a meeting I recently attended at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, the
Consul General David Segal told the attendees the following: "Whereas in
the past Israel acted along the preaching approach, it is now on the path of the
listening approach, to understand what is interesting and important to the
different audiences and populations, and to see how Israel can be relevant to
them. Israel is working to change the international discourse that
delegitimizes and demonizes her, along reach out programs of cooperation.
Whereas in the past Israel expected that the international community will come
to her because 'we are Zionists, we are building a country and we are the cute
Sabras,' now Israel is out to show the world it is competitive and it is
worthwhile doing business with the Jewish State."
And that is how
the triangle corners meet. Yishay Aizik, Executive Director of the Merage Institute,
arranged for the Institute's students from Israel to arrive and meet a room
full of SCICC members and tell them who they are, what their company does
and what is its future goal.
In their book Dan Senor and Saul Singer already labeled
Israel a Start-up Nation: 'Israel: Start-up Nation: The
Story of Israel's Economic Miracle
(http://www.amazon.com/Start-up-Nation-Israels-Economic-Miracle/dp/0446541478)
and a Leader in Business Innovation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KHLyANGmLjQ
With limited resources Israel
turned to the only non depleting resource, which is human brain and it is
maximizing its capacity and thus makes at least one person proud, it is your
writer herein.
More important, it is making the
world a better place to live.
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