A

Israel Trade Team Ho

JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER

W

ith the support of Gov. John Engler, a group of
five local businesspeople is hoping to bring more
business from the state of Michigan to the State
of Israel.
On June 27, this group held its first meeting to be-
gin exploring opportunities for boosting trade.
"We do not have a formal agenda yet," said Peter Al-
ter, a senior partner with the law firm of Honigman,
Miller, Schwartz and Cohn and a member of the team.
"We do know generally what the agenda of the team will
be: increasing the volume of business Michigan does
with Israel as a way of improving the state's economy."
The group discussed looking into the possibility of
sending a trade mission to Israel led by Gov. John En-
gler within the next year. .
Michael Traison, a partner with the law firm of Miller,
Canfield, Paddock and Stone and a member of the team,
said they want to explore the possibility of having a
Michigan trade representative in Israel.
"Other states have done what we are trying to do,"
Mr. Alter said. "We can take ad-
vantage of the groundwork laid This group of
gubernatorial
by these states."
appointees is working
The group discussed inter- to accelerate trade with
viewing Michigan residents cur- Israel.
rently conducting business in
Israel and documenting the most
successful approaches. They also
considered researching both the
money that has been made
through exports to Israel and
the types of industries that are
involved with Michigan and Is-
rael trade.
Elizabeth Williamson, a
member of the team and em-
ployee with General Dynamics
Land Systems Inc., said she

The trade team
hopes to increase
the volume of
business Michigan
does with Israel.

would like to see the team get
involved with a public-relations
campaign to promote to Michi-
gan companies the positive as-
pects of doing business in Israel.
Ms. Williamson said some of
the Michigan products export-
ed to Israel include Kellogg's ce-
real and various automotive
toolings.
Michael Stein, chairman and
CEO of Heidi's, and James
Safran, chairman and CEO of
the Safran Printing Company,
are also bilateral trade-team ap-
pointees.
Michigan trade teams for
Mexico, Canada, Germany,
Japan, Korea, Taiwan, South
East Asia, and a newly formed
team for the Arab countries are
also in existence. ❑

