Cincinnati Visits Israel for MIXiii Conference

Cincinnati, OH (PRWEB) May 12, 2014

REDI Cincinnati, LLC, the region’s leading economic development initiative, is traveling to Israel May 16 to 22 to meet with some of Israel’s leading organizations in the areas of technology, biomedical and pharmaceuticals, education, startups, and venture capital. This will be just one of several trips REDI Cincinnati has taken to meet with companies expanding into the U.S. to share the advantages of establishing a presence in Cincinnati and using Cincinnati as their entrance into the U.S. market.

While in Israel, the REDI Cincinnati delegation will also attend Tel Aviv's Israel Innovation Conference, or MIXii Conference (the first innovation conference in the world where biomed and high-tech will come together in a unique international conference format). The conference will take place at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds May 20-22, 2014.

“Israel is one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic entrepreneurial countries in the world,” said Johnna Reeder, REDI Cincinnati’s President & CEO. “For that reason, they are exploring the many attributes Cincinnati offers them as their central point of operations for expanding to the U.S. Exchanges between leaders from both countries have been frequent in recent years, and many Cincinnati companies already have strong customer and strategic relationships in Israel. This visit will continue to strengthen those connections and foster creativity and innovation.”

Besides recently being ranked 2nd in a 2014 list of the most cost-friendly business locations among U.S. Cities (source: KPMG U.S. audit, tax and advisory services firm), Cincinnati has more Fortune 500 companies in its region per capita than New York, Chicago or L.A. It's the home of such top-10-ranked accelerators as The Brandery and Cintrifuse, and is ranked by Fierce Biotech as one of the top 15 cities in the nation for biotech venture funding (#1 in the Midwest).

Equally as significant, Israel and Cincinnati share mutual strengths in high-tech manufacturing, life sciences, digital technology and water technology, and have already established key relationships that further encourage economic development and innovation, including:

• P&G (headquartered in Cincinnati) operates the Israel House of Innovation in Tel Aviv
• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center recently announced a collaboration with Ben-Gurion University to develop pediatric-specific medical devices and has successfully collaborated with various other healthcare institutions in Israel
• Standard Textile, headquartered in Greater Cincinnati, has an Israeli subsidiary, Arad Textiles
• Teva’s Women’s Health, Inc., a brand division of Teva Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has a manufacturing plant in Cincinnati
• The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber (5th largest chamber in the U.S.) is currently a partner with the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce
• The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati is funding efforts to strengthen Israel’s venture capital (VC) connection with Cincinnati by investing in Cintrifuse, Cincinnati’s $51M Fund of Funds, according to Tim Schigel, Fund Manager at Cintrifuse. Cintrifuse’s developing network of 12 U.S. VC investments will total $1.5 billion in capital under management by the end of 2015. Israel is currently the only marketplace in which they are evaluating an international VC investment.
• The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati has a sister-city relationship with Netanya, Israel, which will host a reception for the REDI delegation during their visit on May 19.

About REDI Cincinnati

Regional Economic Development Initiative (REDI) Cincinnati is the first point of contact for businesses interested in growing in or relocating to Cincinnati, Ohio, a three-state, 15-county region with 2.2M residents and 120,000 businesses, including 10 Fortune® 500 companies. In 2013, Cincinnati ranked sixth in the U.S. for new/expanded facilities among metros with 1M+ residents. An economic growth engine, REDI Cincinnati is comprised of top business leaders, investors and community partners. REDI Cincinnati is dedicated to attracting new businesses, expanding businesses and drawing top talent within six key sectors: Advanced Manufacturing; BioHealth; BrandHUB; Finance, Insurance & IT; Food Processing & Agriculture; and Advanced Energy. As the JobsOhio Network Partner for southwest Ohio, REDI Cincinnati helped create and retain 16,000 jobs in 2013, representing $571M in capital investment. Discover more at http://REDICincinnati.com.

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