A

t an Israeli mobility
summit held 984 feet
from the Mediterranean
coastline, an exhibition hall
overflowed with companies.
Many of the startups are
focused on making driving
safer to prevent the 6 million
accidents that occur each year
in the U.S. One company just
advanced a partnership with a
major city in Michigan to help
create transportation efficien-
cies for the city and its drivers.
A short ride away, an Israeli
stealth startup is working on
reducing global medical errors
to target the quarter million or

so preventable deaths each year.
It’
s the third leading cause of
U.S. deaths. The startup is one
of several ventures aligned with
Michigan hospitals’
objectives to
save lives through technology,
whether it’
s to lower wait time
or create more efficiencies for
the state’
s 100 million+ emer-
gency room visits each year.
A few miles up the
Mediterranean coastline, a
group from Michigan had
arrived, led by Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer, who spent last week
in Israel on her first internation-
al trade mission.
The five-day trip from Nov.

19-23 included a visit to GM’
s
Advanced Technical Center
and a meeting with its director,
Gil Golan, and his team for an
understanding of GM’
s role in
Israel’
s Start-Up Nation and the
innovation ecosystem.
Whitmer also scheduled a
meeting with a delegation of
other Democratic U.S. gov-
ernors pursuing partnerships
and economic developments
in Israel, and visits to Ford
Motor Company’
s new regional
research center.
Also on her agenda was a
meeting with Israeli Minister
of Energy Dr. Yuval Steinitz as

part of the Water Technology
and Environmental Council
(WATEC) conference.

IMPROVING MICHIGAN-
ISRAEL TIES
The governor comes home
with a signed Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) with
Israel-based tech NGO Start-Up
Nation Central.
Start-Up Nation Central acts
as a gateway to Israeli inno-
vation to collaborate on ways
to improve opportunities and
quality of life for Michigan
citizens. Michigan and Start-
Up Nation Central will work
to connect innovative ecosys-
tems and identify Israeli-based
companies with opportunities
to expand operations into
Michigan.
“This MOU can offer a
blueprint for connecting the
innovation ecosystems stra-
tegically,
” Whitmer said. “
An
example might be how to
optimize mobility to improve
transportation options for cit-
izens who may not be looking
for a self-driving car, but who
do need an affordable, reliable
way to go to the bank, get to an
appointment or meet friends.
”
Earlier this year, Michigan
became the first state to launch
a free web platform poised
to be a tipping point for the
state’
s startup ecosystem. The
platform, startupMICHIGAN.
com, created by Start-Up
Nation Central and powered
by the Michigan Israel Business
Accelerator (MIBA), features
more than 300 startups and
growing — including hubs and
funders.
“One of Gov. Whitmer’
s
top priorities is solidifying
Michigan as a world leader in
mobility, and it’
s important that
we build on our relationships
with our international partners

18 | NOVEMBER 28 • 2019

Trade Mission to Israel
Gov. Whitmer signs agreement to connect
Israeli businesses to Michigan.

Tel Aviv and Southfield

Michigan Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer and Professor
Eugene Kandel, CEO of
Start-Up Nation Central,
with the Memorandum of
Understanding they signed.

COURTESY OF START-UP NATION CENTRAL

Jews in the D

ADAM FINKEL CONTRIBUTING WRITER