Cooperation Between Israel
and the State of Missouri

Binational foundation grants shared by Missouri institutions:

Recipients of grants from U.S.-Israel binational foundations:

Danforth Center
GEMACO Playing Card Co.
EDS Unigraphics
McDonnell Douglas Corp.
St. Louis University Medical School
University of Missouri
University of Missouri Medical School
USDA Bio-Control Research Lab
Washington University
Washington University Medical School

Agreements with Israel

In 1988, the Department of Economic Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in in Israel signed the Missouri-Israel Cooperative Agreement, which calls for projects of mutual economic benefit through improved trade, technology development, science, agriculture and tourism.

Partners For Change

The U.S.-Israel relationship is based on the twin pillars of shared values and mutual interests. Given this commonality of interests and beliefs, it should not be surprising that support for Israel is one of the most pronounced and consistent foreign policy values of the American people.

Today's interdependent global economy requires that trade policy be developed at the national and state level. Many states have recognized the opportunity for realizing significant benefits by seeking to increase trade with Israel. No fewer than 23 states have cooperative agreements with Israel.

In 1988, the Department of Economic Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in in Israel signed the Missouri-Israel Cooperative Agreement, which calls for projects of mutual economic benefit through improved trade, technology development, science, agriculture and tourism. The American-Israel Chamber of Commerce and Industry facilitates business ties between the state and Israel.

Missouri exports to Israel total more than $479 million since 1996. In 2007, exports reached $80 million. In addition, Missouri companies received $3,966,191 million in 2006 for U.S. government-funded military contracts with Israel through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program (U.S. military assistance to Israel). Israel is now the State's 22nd largest trade partner. One of the principal commodities sent to Israel was wheat.

Israel is certainly a place where potential business and trade partners can be found. It can also be a source, however, for innovative programs and ideas for addressing problems facing the citizens of Missouri.

Israel, for example, has developed a number of pioneering education programs. One, the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), has been praised by President Clinton as “the best preschool program on earth” and replicated throughout the country.

A range of other exciting approaches to social problems like unemployment, environmental protection and drug abuse have been successfully implemented in Israel and could be imported for the benefit of Americans.

The potential for greater cooperation with Israel for the benefit of Missouri is limited only by the imagination.

Missouri Firms Profit From Business With Israel

As the only country with free trade agreements with both the United States and the European community, Israel can act as a bridge for international trade between the United States and Europe. Moreover, because of the deep pool of talent, particularly in high-technology areas, Israel provides excellent investment opportunities. Some of the nation's largest companies, such as IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Intel and National Semiconductor have found that it is indeed profitable to do business in Israel.

More than 70 Missouri companies have discovered the benefits of doing business with Israel, including Union Carbide, Tiger Corp. and Monsanto.

The company that has had the greatest involvement is probably McDonnell Douglas, which has had a longstanding relationship with Israel. The St. Louis-based defense contractor sells aircraft to the Israeli Air Force, and Israeli companies provide components for the company's fighter planes and MD-11 commercial airliner. Rich Bedarf, program manager for Israeli programs, observed that Israel has "highly qualified suppliers who provide high-quality supplies."

McDonnell Douglas won a major contract to supply the Israeli Air Force with its next generation of fighters. The deal, to produce 21 F-15I Eagles-a version of the U.S. Air Force's F-15E-is worth $2 billion. The contract, Bedarf says, helps the company maintain a higher rate of production and allows the company to keep, if not increase, jobs.

Sigma-Aldrich Corp. is the only Missouri company that has a subsidiary in Israel. It actually has two, Sigma Israel Chemical in Petach Tikva and Makor Chemical in Jerusalem, which sell chemicals manufactured in the United States primarily for research purposes. Controller Kirk Richter said the company established a presence in Israel in the 1970's because it was a good source of chemists and a potentially lucrative market.

Patrick Anderson, a sales manager for Labconco Corp., said his company has also been doing business in Israel for more than a decade and now have a sales representative in the country. The company manufactures lab equipment that is used for research in microbiology and blood work. Anderson said they had sold a significant amount to the Weizmann Institute.

Eagle Pitcher has been selling high performance batteries for 15 years to the Israeli Air Force and space programs. Another division of the company is planning to sell batteries and other parts for an automated toll tagging system Israel is developing for the civilian market.

Ron Workman, Vice President of George P Reintjes Co., says his company has had good experience over the last 15 years selling refractory applications for chemical factories in Israel.

Missouri companies interested in developing business relationships with Israel can find help from the America-Israel Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis (314-432-0134). The Chamber has a database of Israeli businesses and provides various services to facilitate contacts with potential business partners.

Joint ventures between Israeli and Missouri companies can also obtain funding from the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD). BIRD provides funding for projects in 33 states and the District of Columbia. The United States and Israel established BIRD in 1977 to fund joint U.S.-Israeli teams in the development and subsequent commercialization of innovative, nondefense technological products from which both the Israeli and American company can expect to derive benefits commensurate with the investments and risks. Most grant recipients are small businesses involved with software, instrumentation, communications, medical devices and semiconductors.

Since its inception, BIRD has funded nearly 500 joint high-tech R&D projects. Products developed from these ventures have generated sales of more than $8 billion, tax revenues of more than $200 million in the United States alone and created an estimated 20,000 American jobs.

Scientific Innovations

Institutions in Missouri have shared with counterparts in Israel more than $1.1 million in grants awarded by the Binational Science Foundation (BSF) since 1987. BSF was established in 1972 to promote research cooperation between scientists from the United States and Israel. It has awarded more than 3,000 grants, involving scientists from more than 400 institutions in 44 states and the District of Columbia. The University of Missouri, St. Louis University Medical School and Washington University are among the grant recipients.

Paul Schmidt, a physicist at the University of Missouri, is interested in the structure of materials. The application of his research could lead to the production of higher quality glass, which could be used for optical fibers in communications. He found that his interests meshed with those of his Hebrew University collaborator.

Washington University Medical School has a positron tomography facility that is used to study how the brain works. A BSF grant made it possible for an Israeli student to come to St. Louis to learn imaging techniques involved in positron tomography from Michael Welch.

The Israeli, meanwhile, is teaching Missouri scientists techniques developed in Israel for labeling molecules, which can be used to evaluate diseases like breast cancer. "It was a great experience for both groups," said Welch.

Carmine Coscia, a biochemist at St. Louis University Medical School, is also interested in brain research. He is studying the effects of opiates in hope that it might lead to new treatments for brain tumors.

The BSF grant gave Coscia an opportunity to interact and perform experiments with his colleague at the Weizmann Institute. It also gave him access to instruments that are only available in a handful of labs worldwide.

BSF documented no less than 75 new discoveries that probably would not have been possible without foundation-supported collaboration. These advances included the development of new methods and techniques, the discovery of new phenomena and major theoretical breakthroughs.

A 1999 external economic review took an in depth look at 10 BSF projects. These 10 alone, produced aggregate benefits of $780 million, a figure four times the total expenditure of BARD since its inception (1978). The benefits accrue to the United States, to Israel and to both countries together.

Agriculture Benefits

The Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) was created in 1978 with equal contributions by the United States and Israel. BARD funds projects in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Since its inception, BARD has funded more than 800 projects that have led to new technologies in drip irrigation, pesticides, fish farming, livestock, poultry, disease control and farm equipment.

In 2003, 26 projects were funded at 21 U.S. institutions. The University of Missouri and Washington University have shared in grants worth nearly $1 million since 1987.

The University of Missouri's Donald Spiers is interested in a hormone that stimulates growth and milk production in cows. The eventual application may be the development of an artificial hormone with limited side effects that will help the dairy industry by allowing cows to more efficiently convert food to muscle or milk. One of the advantages to the collaboration, Spiers said, was to combine his expertise in physiology with the Israelis' in molecular biology.

Biological insecticides are a safe and effective alternative to chemical agents. One problem is that a bacteria that kills caterpillars and other insects is sensitive to ultraviolet light and often becomes ineffective in the field. Carlo Ignoffo of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bio-Control Research Lab in Columbia, and a Hebrew University scientist have developed and tested a dye that absorbs and reflects the ultraviolet light to protect and stabilize the bacteria. According to Ignoffo, the research could lead to important advances in the use of biological insecticides.

In another project designed to reduce expensive pesticide use and develop more resistant plants, a University of Missouri-Hebrew University team has been examining the biochemical ways in which tomatoes resistant to bacterial leaf spot disease differ from susceptible ones.

Missouri also benefits from BARD research done elsewhere. For example, BARD grantees have developed new, economical procedures for degrading water-borne pesticides using the sun. These are particularly valuable for treating sorghum, one of the state's major field crops.

A team of agricultural economists from the University of Maryland and University of California found that the economic benefits of just five projects -related to cotton, pecans and solarization - exceeded all U.S. investment in BARD.

It is difficult to break down the impact on a state-by-state basis, but, overall, BARD-sponsored research has generated sales of more than $500 million, tax revenues of more than $100 million and created more than 5,000 American jobs.

Other Cooperative Programs

McDonnell Douglas of St. Louis received a grant from the U.S.-Israel Science & Technology Commission to work with the Israeli company, Rotem, on a project regarding the utilization of solar energy for the development of new technologies.

UJA Partnership 2000 Communities:

St. Louis Yokneam-Meggido

Hillel Campus Profiles

State Contacts

America-Israel Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis
967 Gardenview Office Parkway, #7
St. Louis, MO 63141-5915
Tel. 314-432-0134
Fax. 314-432-6612
Email. aiccstl@aol.com

Dept. of Economic Development
8182 Maryland, #303
St. Louis, MO 63105
Tel. 314-425-3310
Fax. 314-425-3381 (f)

JCRC
12 Millstone Campus Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63146-5776
Tel. 314-432-0020 (w)
Fax. 314-432-1277 (f)

Jewish Federation of St. Louis
12 Millstone Campus Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63146-5776
Tel. 314-432-0020
Fax. 314-432-1277

Sherwin Pomerantz,  Director
Missouri Department of Economic Development
c/o Atid EDI Ltd
Bldg. 2, Har Hotzvim, P.O. Box 45005
Jerusalem
Israel 91450
Tel. 2­571­0199
Fax. 2­571­0713
Email. atidedi@netvision.net.il
URL: www.atid-edi.com/missouri.htm