Close Up tional programs and an effort to build a hospice for the region. But the biggest programs aim to spur coopera- tion and economic development. Avi Assayag, head of economic development for the city of Migdal Ha'Emek, praises Partnership 2000 initiatives for uniting the region's cities and towns toward common goals-. "Before, each of the municipalities used to fight each other, but now they're doing things together," Assayag says. "Partnership 2000 created a kind of roundtable for us to sit at. For instance, we're building an industrial zone in conjunction with Emek Jezreel that's going to be nearly 400 acres in size, which is gigantic for this region." Sixty percent of the Partnership 2000 budget for the region goes toward economic development, says Edna Rodrig, deputy mayor of Nazareth Illit, another of the region's cities. Rodrig estimates that by provid- ing small business counselors to work with would-be entrepreneurs, the pro- gram has created thousands of jobs. Rodrig speculates that more than 2,500 people —_new immigrants as -well as residents of the region's kib- butzim and moshavim — have received help in setting up small busi- Danny Bitan, Albert Ben Brian, Federation Executive Vice President Bob Aronson and Partnership 2000 steering commit -tee member Peter Alter during a recent visit to Israel. nesses, including a Russian-language newspaper, a catering business and a graphic design firm. Economic development ventures, however, are "fighting an uphill bat- tle," says Rodrig, noting a national recession has hit the region hard. In the last three months, more than 900 people have lost their jobs due to fac- tories moving overseas in search of cheap labor. Dorfman and Aronson express concern about the economic downturn and rising unemployment in the region; Aronson says he hopes to alleviate some of these problems by encouraging Michigan businesses to invest in the Central Galilee. Last spring, Partnership 2000 sent Michigan's Governor John Engler to Israel, where he unveiled an extensive strategic trade agreement between Michigan and the Central Galilee ne of the reasons the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit selected the central Galilee for its Partnership 2000 region was the presence of Detroit-owned Phoenicia Glass, says Federation Executive Vice-President Bob Aronson. However, the plate glass factory owned by local businessman and phil- anthropist William Davidson does not have a stellar reputation with its nei bors. It has been accused of polluting. A 1996 grassroots campaign per- suading the company to install $4- million scrubbers may have solved the problem, although some nearby residents are still critical of Phoeni- cia. "The bottom line is that Phoenicia is behaving all right, but there are problems from time to time," says Gidi Bressler, deputy director of the Israel Environment Ministry's Northern Dis- trict. As Phoenicia's owner, Davidson is involved in all important company decisions, says Phoenicia's top executive in Israel, Oded Tyrah. Until he accept- ed the U.S. ambassadorship to Norway late last year, businessman/philan- , William Davidson's company in the Partnership 2000 region faces grassroots accusations of pollution, but is earning passing marks from Israel's Ministry of the Environment. LARRY DERFNER Israel Correspondent JULIE WIENER Staff-Writer municipalities of Nazareth Illit, Jezreel Valley Regional Council and Migdal HaEmek. The agreement calls for Michigan to conduct two searches per month in the state for strategic opportunity partners for Israeli companies. Michigan will also allow the Central Galilee to adver- tise, at no cost, strategic trade oppor- tunities in State of Michigan trade and investment promotional litera- ture. • Partnership 2000's budget comes from two sources, says Aronson. Qual- ity of life projects in the region received $850,000 in 1998, channeled through the United Jewish Appeal, which receives more than $13 million each year from Detroit's Allied Jewish Campaign. The people-to-people exchanges are backed by approximate- ly $750,000 annually, most of which comes from special donations solicited by the Federation. According to Aronson, it is the people-to-people component that makes Michigan's program unique from other federations' Partnership 2000 initiatives, most of which simply funnel a portion of their UJA contri- butions to social services projects in their partner regions. thropist David Hermelin was a co- owner of Phoenicia. The company, which employs 360 workers, moved to the new Na 7n reth Illit industrial zone from Haifa about 4 1/2 years ago, before the area became part of Detroit's Partnership 2000 region. Davidson said he is supportive of, although not involved with, Part- nership 2000. He set up shop in the region for business reasons. Davidson told. The Jewish News alle- gations of pollution involving Phoeni- cia are "a political matter with the vil- lages and are well under control." He declined to elaborate. In 1996, 170 families from a neigh- boring village, Hoshaya, and other sur- rounding towns began complaining the industrial zone was fouling the air, and the highly sulfuric fuel Phoenicia was burning created a stench. The locals — religious Jews, secular Jews and Arabs — joined with the Israel Union for Environmental Defense, and after protests, lawsuits and exten- sive media coverage, the company agreed to install scrubbers in the chim- ney to clean up emissions. "At first, everything was fine," said Michal Barkan, a Hoshaya resident involved in the 1996 campaign. "But