Congratulations to Charleston/North Charleston for moving from #19 to #11 on the Milken Institute's list of best performing cities. Greenville Mauldin Easley moved from 136 to 111. Columbia dropped from #65 to #113. Charlotte/Concord/Gastonia dropped from #65 to #114. Myrtle Beach was #128. Atlanta #145. Spartanburg #181,
The rankings are based on such factors as job growth, growth in wages and salaries, and growth in gross domestic product in high tech industries. Arbitrary, but interesting. You can see the complete list of 200 cities at http://bestcities.milkeninstitute.org/bestcities2011.taf?rankyear=2011&type=rank200
New Carolina – also known as SC’s Council on Competitiveness - is a non-profit working to increase South Carolina's economic competitiveness through a cluster development strategy.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Harvard Business School
The Institute for Competitiveness and Strategy at the Harvard Business School licenses a course called the Microeconomics of Competitiveness. The course has been licensed by 100 universities from around the world, including the Moore School of Business at USC. Ed Sellers and I had the opportunity to present the New Carolina story to the annual meeting of the group at Harvard on December 13.
The two day session ended with a review of Harvard’s US Competitiveness project. This project will be detailed in a series of articles in the March issue of the Harvard Business Review. The project surveyed some 10,000 graduates of the Harvard Business School. There were also 12 faculty members who addressed specific issues. The conclusions of the study were pretty grim.
Since 1980, America has experienced:
• Globalization of competition
• Countries with effective economic strategies
• Shortened time horizons
• Intense pressure on the middle class in terms of job loss and stagnation of wages
• Significant percentage in the upper .5% (5 % in 1977 to 18% in 2006)
• The cost of two wars
As a consequence, there have been unsustainable benefits that were primarily, but not exclusively, directed to the middle class:
o Badly thought out housing policy
o Retirement benefits
o Health care (Medicare and Medicaid)
o Cheap products from China, who is not competing on a level playing field
The problems are the result of choice, but not unstoppable forces. However, the federal government can’t seem to make even no brainer decisions.
Michael Porter said “Just do the math on the budget. We are a few years away from a real catastrophe.”
More on this subject in future blogs.
The two day session ended with a review of Harvard’s US Competitiveness project. This project will be detailed in a series of articles in the March issue of the Harvard Business Review. The project surveyed some 10,000 graduates of the Harvard Business School. There were also 12 faculty members who addressed specific issues. The conclusions of the study were pretty grim.
Since 1980, America has experienced:
• Globalization of competition
• Countries with effective economic strategies
• Shortened time horizons
• Intense pressure on the middle class in terms of job loss and stagnation of wages
• Significant percentage in the upper .5% (5 % in 1977 to 18% in 2006)
• The cost of two wars
As a consequence, there have been unsustainable benefits that were primarily, but not exclusively, directed to the middle class:
o Badly thought out housing policy
o Retirement benefits
o Health care (Medicare and Medicaid)
o Cheap products from China, who is not competing on a level playing field
The problems are the result of choice, but not unstoppable forces. However, the federal government can’t seem to make even no brainer decisions.
Michael Porter said “Just do the math on the budget. We are a few years away from a real catastrophe.”
More on this subject in future blogs.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Smart State Conference
On December 4th - 6th, the SC Centers of Excellence (also known as SmartState) held their first national conference in Charleston. The Conference was titled "Realizing a Knowledge-Based Economy: Bridging Academia, Government and Industry."
The SmartState Program with its Centers of Excellence and Endowed Chairs is woefully under under-appreciated around the State. The program was established by the legislature in 1992. It was originally funded with $30 million/year from the SC Educational Lottery, to be matched dollar for dollar with money from other sources. The money was to be used to recruit world class talent to the State's research universities.
There are currently 49 Centers of Excellence with 41 endowed chairs. These Centers have resulted in over $1.2 billion dollars of outside investment and 7000 employees. There has been a six to one return on investment for the State. There are another 40 Chairs that have been approved, but State funds have been unavailable for the match.
SmartState put together an excellent conference program, with experts in commercializing research and the knowledge economy participating. Speakers included Saul Singer, one of the author's of Start-Up Nation, Peter Beattie, former Prime Minister of Queensland, William Symonds, Director of the Pathways to Prosperity Project at Harvard and many others. Thanks to Drs. Richard Swaja (MUSC) and Dr. Tom Kurfess (ICAR)and the SmartState staff for pulling together an excellent program. Thanks as well to the entire SmartState program for what they are contributing to the State.
The SmartState Program with its Centers of Excellence and Endowed Chairs is woefully under under-appreciated around the State. The program was established by the legislature in 1992. It was originally funded with $30 million/year from the SC Educational Lottery, to be matched dollar for dollar with money from other sources. The money was to be used to recruit world class talent to the State's research universities.
There are currently 49 Centers of Excellence with 41 endowed chairs. These Centers have resulted in over $1.2 billion dollars of outside investment and 7000 employees. There has been a six to one return on investment for the State. There are another 40 Chairs that have been approved, but State funds have been unavailable for the match.
SmartState put together an excellent conference program, with experts in commercializing research and the knowledge economy participating. Speakers included Saul Singer, one of the author's of Start-Up Nation, Peter Beattie, former Prime Minister of Queensland, William Symonds, Director of the Pathways to Prosperity Project at Harvard and many others. Thanks to Drs. Richard Swaja (MUSC) and Dr. Tom Kurfess (ICAR)and the SmartState staff for pulling together an excellent program. Thanks as well to the entire SmartState program for what they are contributing to the State.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
What Can We Learn from Israel?
One does not change a culture easily. Tom Friedman of the New York Times most recent book was entitled "That Used To Be Us." It is fairly depressing. The Israeli venture capitalist Jon Medved said, "The US needs to regain its mojo."
The US is still the most innovative country on earth. I saw significant potential collaborations between SC researchers and Israeli researchers in nanotechnology, neurology and other areas. There were at least two dozen Israeli companies that can potentially establish some kind of partnership with SC.
The population of the US is a little over 312 million. Israel is 7.5 million. SC is 4.5 million. We can not import culture. We can work to rebuild elements of the Israeli culture that are so successful. Let's look at the success factors and see what can be adopted.
1. Risk Taking. Outside of Silicon Valley and a handful of other entrepreneurial hotbeds, there is still a fear of failure when it comes to entrepreneurship. The Israeli economy suggests to American entrepreneurs, "why not?"
2. Immigration. In my opinion, we are going the wrong direction on this one. Most of the graduate students in engineering at USC are from outside the United States. We should staple a green card to their diploma, but that is not happening.
3. Ability to question authority. That is more in the culture of individual companies, but it should be encouraged.
4. Universal military service. It won't happen, but I for one would vote for two years. It think it would give the government a labor source, and would better prepare young people for college.
5. Government policy. SC has tried to become a business friendly state and for the most part has succeeded. I think that SC Launch can be every bit as effective as the Israeli incubators. We need to consider adding some support services to the effort. Russ Keller from SCRA/SC Launch was on the Mission and all over this idea.
6. Education. Don Herriott and Jim Reynolds, Co-Chairs of the New Carolina Education Task Force, have been exploring ways of improving the education ethos in SC. This should be among our highest priorities, but it is difficult to change someone who doesn't value education.
A great first step in connecting SC with Israel are the collaborations that I have idscussed over the last seven days. A speaker at Technion had a slide with a 2500 year old quote from Confucious. "Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand."
Thanks again to all of the organizers, trip participants and Israeli hosts. It was a great trip.
The US is still the most innovative country on earth. I saw significant potential collaborations between SC researchers and Israeli researchers in nanotechnology, neurology and other areas. There were at least two dozen Israeli companies that can potentially establish some kind of partnership with SC.
The population of the US is a little over 312 million. Israel is 7.5 million. SC is 4.5 million. We can not import culture. We can work to rebuild elements of the Israeli culture that are so successful. Let's look at the success factors and see what can be adopted.
1. Risk Taking. Outside of Silicon Valley and a handful of other entrepreneurial hotbeds, there is still a fear of failure when it comes to entrepreneurship. The Israeli economy suggests to American entrepreneurs, "why not?"
2. Immigration. In my opinion, we are going the wrong direction on this one. Most of the graduate students in engineering at USC are from outside the United States. We should staple a green card to their diploma, but that is not happening.
3. Ability to question authority. That is more in the culture of individual companies, but it should be encouraged.
4. Universal military service. It won't happen, but I for one would vote for two years. It think it would give the government a labor source, and would better prepare young people for college.
5. Government policy. SC has tried to become a business friendly state and for the most part has succeeded. I think that SC Launch can be every bit as effective as the Israeli incubators. We need to consider adding some support services to the effort. Russ Keller from SCRA/SC Launch was on the Mission and all over this idea.
6. Education. Don Herriott and Jim Reynolds, Co-Chairs of the New Carolina Education Task Force, have been exploring ways of improving the education ethos in SC. This should be among our highest priorities, but it is difficult to change someone who doesn't value education.
A great first step in connecting SC with Israel are the collaborations that I have idscussed over the last seven days. A speaker at Technion had a slide with a 2500 year old quote from Confucious. "Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand."
Thanks again to all of the organizers, trip participants and Israeli hosts. It was a great trip.
Day 6: Coming Home
Day 6 was actually one long night. We left Tel Aviv at 12:40 AM after spending two plus hours winding through security (which given the threats, I actually appreciated.) We arrived in New York 11 hours later, which because of the seven hour time shift, was still dark.
So why is Israel so innovative? Experts such as the authors of Start-up Nation and venture capitalist Jon Medved cite the following reasons:
1. Risk. As a people, the families of Israelis have survived the holocaust, fought eight wars since 1948, and still have heads of nations calling for their extermination. What kind of threat is a business failure? Israelis are very willing to take risks.
2. Immigration. The Israelis opened their doors to Jews from everywhere in 1948. Even though the Jewish immigrants had a common language and common historical memory, they brought the motivation and the cultural interplay that have made first generation immigrants among the most successful entrepreneurs in the US. Shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, some 687,000 Jews from around the world came to Israel. THEY CAME KNOWING THAT THE ISRAELIS WERE AT WAR WITH THE ARABS. Between 1989 and 2000, more than 950,000 Russian Jews immigrated to Israel. Many of the latter were well educated in science and medicine and immediately contributed to the country's intellectual horsepower.
3. Ability to Question Authority. It is probably not an accident that three of the world's five major religions started in Jerusalem. Jews have been questioning the reigning authority for a long time, and not without consequence. Today, according to venture capitalist Jon Medved, it is not uncommon for 19 year old employees to question a CEO about a decision. It is not uncommon for military privates to question officers. Why not? The junior employee or soldier may know more about a given situation than the Officer or CEO. In Israel, the culture encourages them to speak up without fear of retribution. It is an inherent part of the innovation culture.
4. Universal Military Service. Every 18 year old (both men and women) have required military service. It provides a common experience and a common understanding of the importance of defense for all young Israelis. The best and brightest are selected for elite units. One of the best units requires eight years of participation. In the first year, recruits spend three months rotating and learning about each branch of service. They then spend two years getting the equivalent of a BS in computers or physics. The next five years are spent working on weapon systems, defense strategies and advanced security, while completing other course work. When they leave the military at the ripe old age of 26, the venture capitalists are lined up to grab them as start-up CEOs.
5. Government Policy.
Stan Fisher is the current Governor of the Bank of Israel, a post equivalent to the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve. Fisher is an American born in Northern Rhodesia. He has Bachelor and Masters Degrees from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D in Econonmics from MIT. Before coming to Israel, he was Chief Economist of the World Bank. Fisher recognized that low interest rates were a key to investment, and like the US, he lowered interest rates in 2006 to encourage investment. Unlike the US, he did not lower the requirements for home mortgages. Israel still required up to 50% money to get a home loan. (For that matter, government grants generally require a 50% private match.) As a consequence, Israel did not have the meltdown that affected the US economy.
The questioning of authority makes Israeli government fairly contentious. We heard three speakers with three widely different views on the Palestinian issue. However, on the issue of promoting innovation and start-up companies, of building infrastructure, and in supporting research and the university system, the government seems to be of one accord.
6. Education. There is a culture in Israel that values education. I hope I am not generalizing too much to say that this is a part of the Jewish DNA. It was clearly reflected in the visits we had.
So can it be sustained?
In December, 2005, after only six months in this job, Bill Ward, a Clemson Professor in International Business and a former World Bank economist, invited me to join him to look at the Celtic Tiger in Ireland. Ireland and SC are almost the identical population and identical land area. Ireland was the poster child for the new economy. Bill knew most of the leadership of the major Irish economic development agencies from his tenure at the World Bank, and as a consequence, we met with the heads of all of them. I came away very impressed with what they had done, but I did not see much direct translation to South Carolina. We could not implement a 12% corporate tax rate. We could not provide free four year degrees to those that wanted it. We could not be the English speaking interface between high tech companies in America and the European market. As it turned out, perhaps Ireland could not do that either.
My sense from leaving Israel is different. They are not just hosting American companies like Intel, Google, etc. They are innovating for them. They are not just relying on American superstars, but they are spinning out companies on their own, in fact some 700 per year. They have their own venture capital infrastructure. They have first class educational institutions that are largely focusing on scientific innovations. Those insitutions are providing significant research and development with an ey towards commercialization. I did not have that sense in Ireland.
There was a T-Shirt in a street shop in old Jerusalem that said "We Have Your Back America."
Short of the Iranians lobbing a nuclear device towards Israel, I believe that what they are doing is sustainable.
On the flight from Tel Aviv to New York, I sat next to a man with a craggy face and a pony tail to mid back. He was reading an old book on mathematics (I did not write down the title.) I struck up a conversation. Turns out that he was a Doctor at the Hadassah in Jerusalem, former Department Head and still practicing medicine at 75. He was flying to New York to visit one of his four sons. Two were physicians, one was working on his post doc in physics and one was a banker. A picture of Dr. London Mordechai will be on the blog pictures.
There will be one more blog on what can we learn from Israel.
So why is Israel so innovative? Experts such as the authors of Start-up Nation and venture capitalist Jon Medved cite the following reasons:
1. Risk. As a people, the families of Israelis have survived the holocaust, fought eight wars since 1948, and still have heads of nations calling for their extermination. What kind of threat is a business failure? Israelis are very willing to take risks.
2. Immigration. The Israelis opened their doors to Jews from everywhere in 1948. Even though the Jewish immigrants had a common language and common historical memory, they brought the motivation and the cultural interplay that have made first generation immigrants among the most successful entrepreneurs in the US. Shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, some 687,000 Jews from around the world came to Israel. THEY CAME KNOWING THAT THE ISRAELIS WERE AT WAR WITH THE ARABS. Between 1989 and 2000, more than 950,000 Russian Jews immigrated to Israel. Many of the latter were well educated in science and medicine and immediately contributed to the country's intellectual horsepower.
3. Ability to Question Authority. It is probably not an accident that three of the world's five major religions started in Jerusalem. Jews have been questioning the reigning authority for a long time, and not without consequence. Today, according to venture capitalist Jon Medved, it is not uncommon for 19 year old employees to question a CEO about a decision. It is not uncommon for military privates to question officers. Why not? The junior employee or soldier may know more about a given situation than the Officer or CEO. In Israel, the culture encourages them to speak up without fear of retribution. It is an inherent part of the innovation culture.
4. Universal Military Service. Every 18 year old (both men and women) have required military service. It provides a common experience and a common understanding of the importance of defense for all young Israelis. The best and brightest are selected for elite units. One of the best units requires eight years of participation. In the first year, recruits spend three months rotating and learning about each branch of service. They then spend two years getting the equivalent of a BS in computers or physics. The next five years are spent working on weapon systems, defense strategies and advanced security, while completing other course work. When they leave the military at the ripe old age of 26, the venture capitalists are lined up to grab them as start-up CEOs.
5. Government Policy.
Stan Fisher is the current Governor of the Bank of Israel, a post equivalent to the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve. Fisher is an American born in Northern Rhodesia. He has Bachelor and Masters Degrees from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D in Econonmics from MIT. Before coming to Israel, he was Chief Economist of the World Bank. Fisher recognized that low interest rates were a key to investment, and like the US, he lowered interest rates in 2006 to encourage investment. Unlike the US, he did not lower the requirements for home mortgages. Israel still required up to 50% money to get a home loan. (For that matter, government grants generally require a 50% private match.) As a consequence, Israel did not have the meltdown that affected the US economy.
The questioning of authority makes Israeli government fairly contentious. We heard three speakers with three widely different views on the Palestinian issue. However, on the issue of promoting innovation and start-up companies, of building infrastructure, and in supporting research and the university system, the government seems to be of one accord.
6. Education. There is a culture in Israel that values education. I hope I am not generalizing too much to say that this is a part of the Jewish DNA. It was clearly reflected in the visits we had.
So can it be sustained?
In December, 2005, after only six months in this job, Bill Ward, a Clemson Professor in International Business and a former World Bank economist, invited me to join him to look at the Celtic Tiger in Ireland. Ireland and SC are almost the identical population and identical land area. Ireland was the poster child for the new economy. Bill knew most of the leadership of the major Irish economic development agencies from his tenure at the World Bank, and as a consequence, we met with the heads of all of them. I came away very impressed with what they had done, but I did not see much direct translation to South Carolina. We could not implement a 12% corporate tax rate. We could not provide free four year degrees to those that wanted it. We could not be the English speaking interface between high tech companies in America and the European market. As it turned out, perhaps Ireland could not do that either.
My sense from leaving Israel is different. They are not just hosting American companies like Intel, Google, etc. They are innovating for them. They are not just relying on American superstars, but they are spinning out companies on their own, in fact some 700 per year. They have their own venture capital infrastructure. They have first class educational institutions that are largely focusing on scientific innovations. Those insitutions are providing significant research and development with an ey towards commercialization. I did not have that sense in Ireland.
There was a T-Shirt in a street shop in old Jerusalem that said "We Have Your Back America."
Short of the Iranians lobbing a nuclear device towards Israel, I believe that what they are doing is sustainable.
On the flight from Tel Aviv to New York, I sat next to a man with a craggy face and a pony tail to mid back. He was reading an old book on mathematics (I did not write down the title.) I struck up a conversation. Turns out that he was a Doctor at the Hadassah in Jerusalem, former Department Head and still practicing medicine at 75. He was flying to New York to visit one of his four sons. Two were physicians, one was working on his post doc in physics and one was a banker. A picture of Dr. London Mordechai will be on the blog pictures.
There will be one more blog on what can we learn from Israel.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Day 5: Incubators and Accelerators
Our last full day in Israel was Thursday, November 19. As usual, we had the superb Israeli breakfast. At this hotel, it was a 100 ft long buffet that from right to left included coffee, juice, various kinds of cheese, fish, salads, fruit, yogurt, breakfast cereal, granola and many kinds of bread. The buffet turned left to the omelet and pancake/Belgian Waffle areas. They are designed to accommodate a range of nationalities. Maybe Israeli breakfasts are part of the reason they are so innovative.
Our first stop today was to Misgav to visit an incubator called The Trendlines Group. The Office of the Chief Scientist supports 26 incubators around the country. Companies in the incubators can receive up to $600,000 from the Government. This particular incubator was private and was one of two that actually invested in the resident companies. They have three facilities. Misgav focuses on medical devices, biotech and pharmaceuticals. The facility in Mofet focuses on agri-tech, green tech and clean tech energy. They also have a business development consulting arm called Signal. Trendlines has in-house staff support for accounting, regulatory requirements, patents, board management and mentoring. Those also provide business development support for resident companies through Signal. As a consequence, they attract some of the most promising companies in Israel. Some examples in medical devices include:
• A device that is an artificial sphincter for colostomy patients, attaching directly to the large intestine and allowing the patient to use throw away bags.
• A blood test for detecting Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS. Currently the only tests are based on symptoms.
• A new approach to sleep apnea that does away with the face mask and continuous low pressure air.
• A new aortic valve that can be inserted through an artery, rather than with open heart surgery
• A new device for childhood scoliosis that requires only minimal surgery to implant the device. It allows the spine curvature to be corrected with stretching and exercise.
• For asthma patients, a new dry inhaler that monitors whether the pressure and particle size are correct
Like our other meetings at the WATEC, Weizmann Institute, Ben Gurion University, Technion and the Hadassah, we left with contacts and potential business and research opportunities. We finished the day with a one hour debriefing on what the group’s next steps are going to be. Each of the 27 members has specific follow-up responsibilities that we will track on our South Carolina-Israeli website.
We finished the day with a tour of Holy sites around the Sea of Galilee and dinner at an Israeli winery. We then boarded the bus for the return to Tel Aviv and the long flight home.
I have never been on a trip this well organized. There was a wide range of talented people in various fields representing South Carolina. I suspect all of us made lasting friendships. Ford Graham from the Department of Commerce was a great addition.
A major thanks to Mission Chair Jonathon Zucker and to Tom Glaser and his staff from the American-Israeli Chamber for their incredible organization and vision for what this collaboration can do for South Carolina.
My next few blogs will review the culture that makes the Israelis so innovative and what SC can learn from Israel. I hope blogs in the future will discuss the successful results of the South Carolina-Israeli collaboration.
Our first stop today was to Misgav to visit an incubator called The Trendlines Group. The Office of the Chief Scientist supports 26 incubators around the country. Companies in the incubators can receive up to $600,000 from the Government. This particular incubator was private and was one of two that actually invested in the resident companies. They have three facilities. Misgav focuses on medical devices, biotech and pharmaceuticals. The facility in Mofet focuses on agri-tech, green tech and clean tech energy. They also have a business development consulting arm called Signal. Trendlines has in-house staff support for accounting, regulatory requirements, patents, board management and mentoring. Those also provide business development support for resident companies through Signal. As a consequence, they attract some of the most promising companies in Israel. Some examples in medical devices include:
• A device that is an artificial sphincter for colostomy patients, attaching directly to the large intestine and allowing the patient to use throw away bags.
• A blood test for detecting Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS. Currently the only tests are based on symptoms.
• A new approach to sleep apnea that does away with the face mask and continuous low pressure air.
• A new aortic valve that can be inserted through an artery, rather than with open heart surgery
• A new device for childhood scoliosis that requires only minimal surgery to implant the device. It allows the spine curvature to be corrected with stretching and exercise.
• For asthma patients, a new dry inhaler that monitors whether the pressure and particle size are correct
Like our other meetings at the WATEC, Weizmann Institute, Ben Gurion University, Technion and the Hadassah, we left with contacts and potential business and research opportunities. We finished the day with a one hour debriefing on what the group’s next steps are going to be. Each of the 27 members has specific follow-up responsibilities that we will track on our South Carolina-Israeli website.
We finished the day with a tour of Holy sites around the Sea of Galilee and dinner at an Israeli winery. We then boarded the bus for the return to Tel Aviv and the long flight home.
I have never been on a trip this well organized. There was a wide range of talented people in various fields representing South Carolina. I suspect all of us made lasting friendships. Ford Graham from the Department of Commerce was a great addition.
A major thanks to Mission Chair Jonathon Zucker and to Tom Glaser and his staff from the American-Israeli Chamber for their incredible organization and vision for what this collaboration can do for South Carolina.
My next few blogs will review the culture that makes the Israelis so innovative and what SC can learn from Israel. I hope blogs in the future will discuss the successful results of the South Carolina-Israeli collaboration.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Day 4: The Old and the New
We packed and left the Carlton early this morning traveling North to the ancient City of Caesaria. It is on the eastern end of the Mediterranean and has been conquered, destroyed and rebuilt at least 10 times. From recorded history, it was originally built by the Phoenicians. King Herod (a Jew, but with Roman interests) built into one of the world's great harbors in -10 BCE. Subsequently, the site was destroyed and re-established by the Byzantines, Moslems, Crusaders, French, Turks, British and now the Israelis. The site is a UN World Heritage Site and includes an original theater, a chariot race track, an aqueduct, and other ruins at least 2000 years old.
Around Caesaria is a beautiful area on land formerly owned by the Rothschild family. When Israel was formed, they turned the land over to the State, who then leased it back to a Foundation. The Foundation then endowed the area to create a community focusing on education, the arts and the public welfare. What they have created is magnificent.
We then went to Given Imaging at Yokneam. This is the company that invented the pill sized camera that is swallowed and can monitor the esophagus, the small intestine and even the colon. It requires no anesthesia. They have 300 patents, 300 pending patents, and grew from $5 million in sales in 2001 to $175 million in 2011. Their earnings per share have matched the sales growth and they have no debt. We used their building to interview nine other companies for potential collaborations.
The bus then went to Nazareth for a luncheon with the Nazareth and Galilee Chamber of Commerce. Nazareth is the largest Arab city in Israel. It was the home of Jesus, and I was astonished to learn that Bethlehem is more than 100 miles away. It was a long way to go to pay taxes, but I learned why they went. Let me just say that I learned more about the history of three of the five major religions in one week than I had previously learned in a lifetime.
After a quick visit to the Church of the Annunciation, we went to Technion, often called the MIT of Israel. We discussed a potential partnership in nanotechnology. At Technion I saw the same passion for patenting and commercializing new technology that I saw at Ben Gurion University, the Weizmann Institute and the Hadassah. Technion files 100 international patent applications per year.
Dinner was at a restaurant overlooking the magnificent city and Harbor of Haifa.
Around Caesaria is a beautiful area on land formerly owned by the Rothschild family. When Israel was formed, they turned the land over to the State, who then leased it back to a Foundation. The Foundation then endowed the area to create a community focusing on education, the arts and the public welfare. What they have created is magnificent.
We then went to Given Imaging at Yokneam. This is the company that invented the pill sized camera that is swallowed and can monitor the esophagus, the small intestine and even the colon. It requires no anesthesia. They have 300 patents, 300 pending patents, and grew from $5 million in sales in 2001 to $175 million in 2011. Their earnings per share have matched the sales growth and they have no debt. We used their building to interview nine other companies for potential collaborations.
The bus then went to Nazareth for a luncheon with the Nazareth and Galilee Chamber of Commerce. Nazareth is the largest Arab city in Israel. It was the home of Jesus, and I was astonished to learn that Bethlehem is more than 100 miles away. It was a long way to go to pay taxes, but I learned why they went. Let me just say that I learned more about the history of three of the five major religions in one week than I had previously learned in a lifetime.
After a quick visit to the Church of the Annunciation, we went to Technion, often called the MIT of Israel. We discussed a potential partnership in nanotechnology. At Technion I saw the same passion for patenting and commercializing new technology that I saw at Ben Gurion University, the Weizmann Institute and the Hadassah. Technion files 100 international patent applications per year.
Dinner was at a restaurant overlooking the magnificent city and Harbor of Haifa.
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