Leonardtown, MD – During the week of March 19 – 26, St. Mary’s County Commissioner Tom Jarboe (R – 1st District) traveled to Israel with a Maryland State business development delegation. The delegation was comprised of the Maryland Cyber Czar (Jeffrey Wells), representatives from the Maryland Israel Development Center (MIDC) and business leaders with experience in international import and export of technologies in fields such as cyber, biomedical and autonomous unmanned systems.
The goal of the trip was to develop potential business leads for Maryland companies seeking to expand exports to Israel as well as meeting with candidate Israeli based companies that are interested in expanding operations into the United States (specifically Maryland).
During the trip the delegation visited CyberSpark, an Israeli Cyber Innovation incubator complex located in the municipality of Be’er Sheva in the Negev desert.
This research development test and evaluation center was constructed and is located in the middle of a desert. Ten years ago nothing existed in this section of Israel except for sand. But today it is a bustling research center which will soon host the Israeli Army’s 8200 (Intelligence command). The delegation also toured several high-tech businesses and attended a 2-day CyberTech conference in Tel Aviv where they met with many Israeli firms looking to expand their businesses into the United States.
Maryland-based companies are eligible for a grant from the Israel Binational R & D Foundation (BIRD) to collaborate new high tech product development with Israeli companies. Grants of up to $1 million are available to engage innovative companies from The Start Up Nation to kick start Maryland-based technology development to a new level. Funding is also available to Maryland startup companies through the new MIDC-OurCrowd Partnership. OurCrowd of Israel is the global leader in equity crowdfunding. As a result of the partnership with the Maryland/Israel Development Center, OurCrowd is now evaluating Maryland companies for funding.
St. Mary’s County businesses interested in learning more about trade opportunities in Israel are encouraged to contact Commissioner Jarboe directly (tom.jarboe@stmarysmd.com ). For more information on the MIDC and available grant funding go to https://www.marylandisrael.org/.