Mayor Signs Deal in Israel: Akron, Area Businesses to Invest in Mideast High-Tech Incubator

By John Higgins, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

Jan. 13–Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic and the chairman of GOJO Industries, Joseph Kanfer, signed a deal late Thursday in Israel to invest at least $1 million from the greater Akron area in a high-tech incubator in the Israeli city of Netanya.

The project will be known as the Targetech-Akron incubator, which is believed to be the first partnership of its kind between an Israeli incubator and a U.S. city.

The Targetech Innovation Center specializes in taking emerging ideas in biotech, electronics, Internet technology, manufacturing systems and materials engineering and turning them into viable businesses, according to its Web site, www.targetech.co.il/home.asp.

The memorandum of understanding, signed around 11 p.m. Thursday, Israel time, establishes Akron as a kind of finishing school for Israeli companies with a product they want to market in the United States.

Targetech, which began as a government entity but was privatized a few years ago, receives about 200 applications a year and chooses six or seven to develop into full-fledged companies, Plusquellic said from Israel.

Under the partnership, those new graduates would come to Akron, set up in Akron’s recently expanded incubator and take advantage of the region’s high-end manufacturing base and skilled work force.

Akron will help with technical support, and the city plans to beef up its marketing to help those companies sell their products in the United States, preferably while remaining in the Akron area, employing local residents.

The agreement allows for some exceptions if relocation to Akron is not feasible, but most are expected to take advantage of setting up shop here.

“(Targetech officials) see this as a positive that will help them attract more businesses,” Plusquellic said.

The investment will be at least $1 million to begin and will come from a variety of public and private funds, Plusquellic said.

“We cannot compete with the lowest of low wages anymore,” he said. “It’s the way the world has gone.”

The next B.F. Goodrich that transforms Akron’s economy may come from Israel, China or somewhere else in the world, he said.

“It’s the only way that I know that we can survive in the future,” he said.

Successful Targetech businesses include Medihale (manufacturers of a drug delivery system), SercoNet (which makes local area network technology available in homes) and MEA (which tests the performance of electrical motors and appliances), according to Targetech’s Web site.

The deal marks a high point in Akron’s largest overseas trade mission, which ends today. The delegation of city officials and representatives from local industries and hospitals left for Israel last week.

The mission has also laid the groundwork for business collaboration, a pipeline of projects between Israeli biotech companies and Akron hospitals, and possible academic exchanges in polymers and health care.

The mission was organized by the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute and coordinated with Howard Gudell, president of the Ohio Israel Chamber of Commerce.

The city’s participation in the mission was paid for with money from the joint economic development districts, which is set aside for economic development projects that benefit the region.

John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or 1-800-777-7232 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com

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