40
Friday, March 1, 1985
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
CORPORATE
M ATCHMAKER
BY TEDD SCHNEIDER
Staff Writer
A new
organization
promotes
business ties
between
Detroit and
Israel
When Shelly Jackier and Jane
Sherman joined their local chamber of
commerce, dozens of Detroit-area
businesses stood to benefit from the
efforts of two of the Jewish commu-
nity's top-notch organizers. But, more
importantly, so did companies based
7,000 miles from the factories and
offices of the Motor City.
The two women are the force be-
hind the newly-created Detroit chap-
ter of the American-Israel Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, an organiza-
tion designed to facilitate commercial
ties between Israeli business people
and their counterparts in the United
States. Jackier is the executive direc-
tor of the local branch and Sherman is
the president.
The local chamber is one of ten
such organizations scattered through-
out major metropolitan areas around
the country. Formed last November, it
is the new kid on the block, joining
established chapters in New York,
Chicago, New England, Cleveland,
Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadel-
phia, Hawaii and the Washington-
Baltimore area. A Memphis branch
folded last year.
The group's parent organization,
the Israel-American Chamber of
Commerce, is headquartered in Tel
Aviv.
The chamber is a kind of modern-
day matchmaker, arranging "mar-
riages" between entrepreneurs who
might otherwise have trouble cultivat-
ing contacts half-a-world away. "If, for
example, somebody from Israel wants
to market computer software here,"
Sherman said, "we will get him to the
right people to see if his product can be
sold successfully in the U.S."
The organization operates on
three different tiers: importing Israeli
products and services to America, ex-
porting locally-made goods to Israel
and stimulating American investment
in businesses that are owned by Is-
raelis and located in the Jewish state.
While giant, multi-national corpora-
tions are welcome to use the services of
the chamber, it is the smaller, inde-
pendent or family-owned business
that should really benefit from the
new branch.
Detroit-area consumers will share
in the dividends of the venture as well.
For instance, those with a sweet tooth
may soon notice the popular, Israeli-
made Elite candy bars popping up on
the shelves at their local 7-11 store,
according to Jackier. Previously
available only at Farmer Jack super-
markets, Borman Foods has, through
a match made by the chamber, agreed
to import larger quantities of the
product for distribution to some 2,000
convenience stores throughout Michi-
gan.
From simple pleasures like choco-
late to the more elaborate technology
of computers and robotics, if an Israeli
product can be shipped via plane or
boat, Jackier and Sherman feel that
there is a potential market for it in
metropolitan Detroit.
"I think the stereotype in many
minds that all Israel produces is
oranges and bathing suits can be
wiped out by a successful effort on be-
half of the chamber," Jackier said.
"We're going to be distributing Israeli
products in a market that usually
doesn't see them."
The local chapter of the chamber
has had to gain a foothold in an area
that presents a pair of unique chal-
lenges — Detroit's large, and increas-
ingly vocal Arab community, and the
especially strong sentiment to "buy
American" in an industrial region that
is just now pulling itself out of a deep
recession, blamed in part on the pre-
ponderance of imported products.
But by stressing the bi-national
nature of the chamber, Jackier and
Sherman have managed to head off
any criticism. "We're not just in the
business of seeing Israeli companies
bring their products over here," Sher-
man said. "It can work the other way.
Some American companies may make
a deal and they may wind up exporting
their stuff to Israel — enhancing their
profits."
Adds Jackier: "We have been
promoting Israel's Food Week in the
community here. There are a number
of food-oriented trade shows in Israel
and we contacted several companies
here and helped them explore the pos-
sibility of going over there to attract
new business."
While Israel's current troubled
economic climate may have made
some people wary of risking large
sums of capital in a joint venture with
the Jewish state, the two women feel
that people who have "been burned
dealing with Israel in previous busi-
ness matters" pose a greater difficulty
in trying to sell the idea of the
chamber.
"Israelis just don't do things the
way American businessmen are used
to doing things," Sherman said, refer-
ring to the more laid-back style of
commerce in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and
Jerusalem. "Trying to convince people
to give Israel a second chance has been
a major problem, but I think the
chamber is going to play a key role in
rectifying that.
"When somebody from Israel ap-
proaches us with the idea of doing
business in the United States, the first
thing we do is explain to them how an
American business is run. We tell
them, 'If a U.S. company places an
order for 10,000 units of something de-
liverable on May 1, then they damn
well better be delivered on May 1.' "
Another area where the chamber
is helping to smooth the way for
Israel-Detroit business projects is in
the marketing field. Israel isn't really
keyed in to the sophisticated way com-
panies sell their products to the
American public, Jackier said. Factors
such as demographics, media satura-
tion and other complex marketing
strategies are foreign concepts to
many Israelis. Once a deal is struck,
the chamber will be available to make
suggestions that may help pave the
way for success.
Surprisingly though, the match-
making process itself has been rela-
tively easy compared to the task of get-
ting support from the community for
the chamber and all it hopes to accom-
plish. Corporations, both large and
small, have not exactly been beating a
path to the chamber's Jewish Commu-
nity Center office, according to Sher-
man. And, contrary to her past
exploits, it isn't their money she's after
— just their business acumen.
"If the Jewish community here
wants to help solve the problems in