Colorado Governor Ritter leads business delegation to Israel

The delegation signed several Colorado-Israel agreements and MOUs to promote an exchange of knowledge, ideas and best business practices
 
Governor Bill Ritter led last week a delegation of Colorado administration officials and business leaders to Israel on an economic-development mission that will begin to establish long-term business, investment and research partnerships in innovative fields such as energy, clean-tech and water.
 
Among those joined Gov. Ritter were Colorado Economic Development and International Trade Director Don Marostica, Energy Director Tom Plant and Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp, as well as officials from the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University and its affiliated Colorado Water Institute, and the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory.
 
The delegation signed several Colorado-Israel agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to promote an exchange of knowledge, ideas and best business practices.
 
Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. said that “This trip represents the kind of relationship-building that you have to do to generate new jobs and capital for Colorado,” Clark added that “Colorado and Israel have similar goals when it comes to investing in and growing the clean energy, biofuels and aerospace sectors. They are a center for innovation and capital – and it’s important for us to be there.”
 
The delegation will be meeting with top business and government officials, including: Israeli President Shimon Peres, Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Benjamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer, Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau, Minister for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee Silvan Shalom.Better Place Electric Vehicles, the world’s leading electric-vehicle service provider. BrightSource Energy’s Solar Energy Development Center in the Negev Desert , Noble Energy, which is helping to diversify Israel’s energy portfolio with natural gas Ormat Industries’ Geothermal Power Plant, which converts heat into to electricity Governor Ritter and the Colorado delegation have signed three MOUs during the mission, including a bilateral agreement between Israel and Colorado; an MOU between Colorado State University and the Desert Research Center at Ben Gurion University; and an MOU between the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and the Agro Research and Development Center.