Thirty-one individuals representing 27 Akron companies, institutions and public entities participated on the mission, which ended Friday, January 13^th. Representatives included Bridgestone Americas, ExxonMobil, Newell-Rubbermaid, Omnova Solutions, The University of Akron, Polymer Ohio (the industry association for the 2,800 member Ohio polymer industry), Akron General, Akron Children’s and Summa Healthcare hospitals each of which are among the top 50 hospitals in the US, the City of Akron and State of Ohio, and GOJO, the maker of Purell skin care products that was recently sold to Pfizer

The mission was organized by the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute and coordinated with the Ohio Israel Chamber of Commerce under Howard Gudell, its president. The Chamber and the IEI have had a long successful relationship in undertaking similar missions since 1996. Through the efforts of the IEICI, 60 Israeli companies met with the Akron delegation, which had over 120 one-on-one meetings.

Successes coming from the meetings included a signed memorandum of understanding between Mayor Plusquellic and Joseph Kanfer, Chairman of GOJO Industries in which a public private partnership organized by the greater Akron community will invest a minimum of $1 million dollars in the Targetech incubator in Netanya. The incubator will be known as the Targetech-Akron incubator and is the first such partnership undertaken by any Israeli incubator and a US city.

Mayor Plusquellic stated, "We believe this mutual partnership will bring significant short and long term result to Akron and Targetech as they bring us their expertise in starting and incubating high tech companies who have the innovative technologies our companies need. In return, we will bring our marketing and commercialization expertise which will enable these Israeli companies to grow in the US market place and beyond. As these companies exit the incubator and need a US presence, Akron’s location and infrastructure will benefit both the company and our community" He further stated, "we are looking for partnerships with Israeli companies with whom our local business can collaborate and do business."

An outcome of the mission was the establishment of a bilateral healthcare steering committee between the IEI, the Israeli Life Sciences Industry Association, Israeli biotech companies and the major hospitals in Akron to develop a pipeline of projects that can be commercialized and marketed in the US, according to Howard Gudell, President of the Ohio Israel Chamber of Commerce and a principal in SGI Global Business Advisors, an international economic development consulting firm to government and the private sector.

As a result of the one-on-one meetings, a number of companies have initiated serious discussions on business cooperation and collaboration; two Israeli companies are seriously considering Akron as their US operations base; and discussions between the University of Akron and the Technion on potential academic exchanges in polymers and healthcare have been discussed.

Robert Bowman, Akron Deputy Mayor for Economic Development stated, "Akron is competitive among American Cities." With access to transportation and our position at the center of the nation’s polymer research, design and manufacturing core, Akron has significant advantages for Israeli companies. With the combination of our biotech industries that are succeeding in northeast Ohio, we’re asking Israeli entrepreneurs to take a look at Akron as their US base." Since 1998, almost $2 billion has been invested in 62 new manufacturing operations in the region, and Greater Akron also boasts 2,115 business expansions for the same period.