High Speed Corporate and Dial-Up Internet Access
Business
Southwestern Ontario's Largest Internet Provider is now
in Michiga
Finally ; a n ernet Provider that can reliably handle all of
Incubation Program
Hatches Profits
your Internet & communications needs. From dial-up to
corporate dedicated T1 access, no one can service you
like MNSi.
Network engineering and c .
are the foundation of ours :
our fully fiber optic netwo,
redundant high capaci
SprintLink and interne
ler
NICKY BLACKBURN
er service excellence
ess. For solid reliability,
nsists of dual
nnections direct to the
backbones.
Special to The Jewish News
ing-fast Internet service without the Flash...
et MNSI be your direct link to the world of Global Business!
www.mnsi.net
AifigegaitaganittSr .
Replace Old, Cracked & Foggy
Windowpanes
to
10% Discount
Mention this Ad
company, Sizary
See Spring and Summer
Through Clear Windows
Complete Window & Doorwall Repair Service
For your Free Estimate or Consultation
Call Our Custom Experts at:
•
248353-5770
And Visit Our Southfield Showroom at:
22223 Telegraph Road (South of 9 Mile Road)
GLASS
A Clear Reflection of Quality
Since 1964
Stand out above the crowd,
have your financial future
planned by a professional
Call Phase Four today to schedule a one hour complimentary
consultation with Joel Levi, CFP and Trish Wellman, CFP.
PHASE FOUR
(248) 559-6980
"'CFP and Certified Financial Planner are certification marks of the International Board of Standards and Practices for Certified Financial Planners, Inc. (IBCFP).
Securities offered through Vestax Securities Corporation, Member NASD & SIPC, 1931 Georgetown Road, Hudson, Ohio 44236. (330) 650-1660
KNIGHT&
V DEUTSCH
David M. Deutsch
Master of Photography
PHOTOGRAPHY
"Creating an image that touches the heart,
graces the soul and leaves a memory that will
last a lifetime."
Professional Photographers of America
THE WORLD'S GREAT STORYTELLERS.
6/26
1998
116
JNEntprtainment
Call The Sales Department (248) 354-7123 Ext. 209
(248) 352-7030
Advertise in our
new Entertainment
Section!
ormer Muscovite Josef Zin-
man was 78 when he first
approached the Haifa-based
Eltam development firm
with a plan for a system that would
purify materials used in the diamond
inaustry.
Speaking only Russian and barely
able to communicate the complexity
of his idea, his chances elsewhere
would have been zero at his age. But
the management team researched the
idea and discovered that while his
product would have no practical use
in diamond manu-
1111111V'
facturing, it could
serve a vital role in
the semiconductor
industry.
That was 1991.
Today Zinman, who
still puts in an eight-
hour day, is 84 and
has founded his own
.
Materials Purifica-
tion Ltd. The com-
pany has $5 million
in investments from
capital funds in
Israel and the United States, and
anticipates another $3 million.
Located in the Tefen industrial park,
the company employs 16 people, and
has developed a non-chemical process
that removes impurities from the silicon
wafers used to make computer chips.
At present, Sizary is carrying out
beta-site product testing for Mit-
subishi Silicon America in the U.S.,
and next year should set up beta-site
trials for two more international com-
panies. Ilya Roitman, president and
co-founder of Sizary, said he antici-
pates sales of $1 million next year, $5
million in 1999, and $20 million in
2000.
Mr. Zinman's story is not unusual
for Israel's business incubator program.
Since its inception in 1991, 580
projects have been accepted into the
program, in areas ranging from agri-
culture and health care to computers,
electronics, biotechnology and cosmet-
ics. Inventions are imaginative and
diverse — edible eating utensils,
robots that pick fruit, bone-injection
guns and liquid heaters.
Though it's too early to gauge the
long-term effects of the incubators, in
Nicky Blackburn writes for the
Jerusalem Post Foreign Service.
the short term things look promising. ul
Over 300 projects have already
graduated from the program.
Fifty-six percent of them are inde-
pendent companies. Of these, 40 per-
cent have found commercial invest-
ments and 20 percent are in negotia-
tions or are living off sales. That leaves a
failure rate of 40 percent. This may
sound high, but compared to the U.S.,
where the failure rate after three years is -1
90 percent, the figure is impressive.
"People from all over the world —
even America — are coming to study
our system," says program manager
and founder Rina Pridor.
According to Ms. Pridor, the
incubator pro-
gram was set up
to fill a gap in
Israeli research
and development.
While entrepre-
neurs with
advanced ideas
were given enor-
mous support, less
well-developed
ideas were being
abandoned
because investors
weren't prepared
to take the risk.
"We didn t want the good ideas to
disappear, so the government decided
to take this risk," says Ms. Pridor.
It was no coincidence, however,
that the program began at the same
time as the huge immigration wave
from the Soviet Union. An unprece-
dented number of highly skilled scien-
tists, engineers and technicians flood-
ed in, bringing many brilliant ideas
but little knowledge of new technolo-
gy or the free-market economy.
Accordingly, the incubator program
requires that at least 50 percent of
incubator staff be Russian immigrants.
In practice, this figure today is closer
to 70 percent.
0
- 1
The program, which is supported
by the Office of the Chief Scientist of
Israel's Ministry of Industry and
Trade, started small — 50 projects
with funding of $1 million.
There are now 213 projects in 26
incubators across the country from
Carmiel to Dimona, and a total of
$80 million has been invested.
Each incubator has 10 to 20 pro- 414
jects at a time, and new ones join
every year. Each project receives a two-
year grant of up to $340,000 per pro-
ject, and entrepreneurs are given
premises, tools, guidance, administrative
aid and even English or Hebrew lessons
'