Prosper Q&A: Doug Smith Goes to Israel

Doug Smith, a deputy Oakland County executive in charge of economic development, is among a dozen people in Israel on a week-long trade mission sponsored by Automation Alley. He was joined on the trip by four companies, Lawrence Technological University and Steve Cassin, Macomb County's head of economic development. Before he left, Smith spoke with Prosper about the trip that will take the group to Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It is also sponsored by Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss, P.C.; MichBio; Michigan Israel Business Bridge; NextEnergy; and the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Commercial Services
 
Question: What is the purpose of the Israel trade mission?
Answer: This is not like the usual trade mission where we take companies somewhere in hopes of expanding into their market. Israel is about the size of Rhode Island. There really is no consumer market for our companies. Instead, we're looking for partners for our companies, perhaps a joint ownership, where we would be able to use their technology and get it into the U.S. marketplace.
 
Q: Why would these Israeli companies be interested in Oakland County?
A: We have companies that know how to use their technologies. The breadth and depth of their research and technology is among the best in the world. They want companies who already know how to use these technologies. We have 42,000 companies and 1.2 million people in Oakland County. From their standpoint, we make a pretty attractive market.
 
Q: Who is going on the trade mission?
A: We have two medical device companies, Barron Industries and Promess Inc.; a law firm, Lipson, Neilson, Cole, Seltzer, Garin, P.C.; Lawrence Tech.; and RazorThreat, Inc., an IT company. Ken Rogers, the executive director of Automation Alley, and two of his staff members.
 
Q: What do you expect the highlight of the trip to be?
A: While in Haifa, we'll be visiting the center of technology for all of Israel. This will be an opportunity for our companies to have first hand contact with the researchers who are working with local companies to produce the innovation for tomorrow. We'll be visiting Technion Institute of Technology, which is the Israeli version of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is the center of innovation for all of Israel.
 
Q: Should we expect these companies to come back with contracts in their hands?
A: I expect our companies to get hooked up with Israeli companies, whether in a partnership or some other arrangement, but these deals take time. I think we will probably have to wait a few years before we see results. This is all about building relationships.