Colorado Governor Bill Ritter will arrive in Israel on Monday on an economic development mission. The Governor will lead a delegation of Colorado administration officials and more than a dozen Coloradan businesspeople and community personalities who will begin to establish business and research partnerships in fields such as energy, clean-tech and water. Governor Ritter will be in Israel July 12-18.
The Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado is sponsoring the mission. Among those joining Governor Ritter will be First Lady Jeannie Ritter, Colorado Economic Development and International Trade Director Don Marostica, Energy Director Tom Plant and Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp, as well as officials from the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University and its affiliated Colorado Water Institute, and the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory.
Governor Ritter and the Colorado delegation will sign at least three memorandums of understanding (MOU) during the mission, including a bilateral agreement between Israel and Colorado; an MOU between Colorado State University and the Desert Research Center at Ben Gurion University; and an MOU between the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and the Agro Research and Development Center.
The delegation will meet top business and government officials, including President Shimon Peres, Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Minister of national infrastructure Uzi Landau, who in October invited Governor Ritter to visit Israel, Minister of the development of the Negev and the Galilee Silvan Shalom, and Deputy Foreign Minister and former Ambassador to the United States Danny Ayalon.
The delegation will also visit Shai Agassi's electric car venture Better Place, BrightSource Energy’s Solar Energy Development Center in the Negev, Noble Energy, which is helping to diversify Israel’s energy portfolio with natural gas, Netafim Ltd. and other water-technology leaders, and geothermal energy company Ormat Industries Ltd. (TASE: ORMT).
First Lady Jeannie Ritter, who has made mental health issues her top priority, will be meeting with a number of behavioral health experts in Israel to share best practices, particularly in the field of treating members of the military and veterans.
Other delegation members include executives from Braddock Financial Corp., Allonhill, Israel Investment Advisors, Madison Ventures, the Monroe Group, Steele Properties, and Hogan Lovells, as well as representatives from the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado, Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Governor Ritter pointed to similarities between the economies of Israel and Colorado, saying “We are both highly entrepreneurial, with industries that are driven by intellectual capital. We both emphasize emerging and innovative industries such as new energy, clean-tech, bioscience and water. This mission is a first step toward developing ongoing mutually-beneficial relationships between our two states, academic and research institutions, and private businesses.”
Allied Jewish Federation president and CEO Doug Seserman added, “By bringing key members of his cabinet as well as educational and business leaders in the state with him, Governor Ritter's trip will help demonstrate to a wider audience the enormous value that expanded economic and technological cooperation with Israel will bring to Colorado.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 11, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010