Mississippi Secretary of State to Visit

Delbert Hosemann, Mississippi’s Secretary of State, will be in Israel in early June for a brief visit.  During that time he will meet with a number of Israeli companies who are considering opening facilities in the US and will have a series of meetings with public agency representatives here as well.   EDI will be coordinating the business and government meetings for the Secretary.   

Virginia Company Hosted in Turkey 

Representatives of Centreville, Virginia’s Microautomation Inc., will be in Istanbul in early June for three days of meetings there with potential business partners.  They will also meet with representatives of the US Commercial Service and other public sector groups.  MicroAutomation is a leading systems integrator offering an extensive range of call center technology solutions and professional services.  Since 1991 MicroAutomation has designed, developed and implemented solutions worldwide in a variety of industries.  EDI in its role as trade consultants to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership is coordinating the visit.  

EDI Meets Client Companies in New Mexico and Illinois 

EDI’s Associate Director, Seth Vogelman, will be in New Mexico and Illinois during June to meet with client companies in both states.  EDI represents the trade and investment interests of both locales in this region.  

Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Economic Developer Visits Israel 

Early May saw the visit to Israel of Pete Reinke, Vice President for Regional Development at the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.  During his visit to the country he met with a number of Israeli companies interested in looking at the Lehigh Valley as a foreign direct investment destination.  He also met with a number of Israeli companies who are already operating facilities in the Valley and thanked them for their activities there.   In addition, representatives of 30 Israeli manufacturers attended an “Invest in Pennsylvania Seminar” on May 4^th in Tel Aviv.  During that seminar participants heard about the benefits of oeprating US facilities in Pennsylvania, and were advised of the investment incentives provided by the state to foreign entities locating there.  Also speaking at the seminar were Jonathan Heimer, Principal Commercial Officer at the US Commercial Service in Tel Aviv and Tamar Guy, Executive Director of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM).  Rounding out the program was a presentation by former California registered lobbyist, Alan Edelstein, who spoke about how to influence state legislatures to look kindly on special problems.    This visit was part of a two week trip to Europe and the Middle East to increase interest in the Lehigh Valley.  EDI represents the trade and investment promotion interests of Pennsylvania in this region.   

Virginia Sends Trade Mission to Turkey 

During the first week of May six Virginia companies traveled to Turkey for a week long trade mission arranged and administered by EDI’s associates in Istanbul.  The event, under the auspices of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership featured numerous one on one meetings with interested potential business partners in Turkey all designed to increase the level of trade between the two countries.  Gregory S. Taevs Principal Commercial Officer, U.S. Consulate – Istanbul, welcomed the participants at the opening event on May 3^rd and provided an overview of the local economy to the participants.