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 '