 
|
|||||||||||||
              
|
Israeli leaders explore our similarities
Wednesday, April 05, 2000 By Joyce Gannon, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Karmiel/ Misgav is a scenic, affluent and fast-growing region in the mountains of northern Israel that's gaining a reputation for how well its Jewish and Arab residents live and work together.
So why would civic leaders there turn to Pittsburgh for guidance?
When it comes to planning for the future, the two places share some of the same concerns: How to create a diverse economy that will provide jobs for generations to come; how to keep talented young people from departing once they get their degrees from local universities; and how city and regional governments can work together on development issues.
That's according to members of a group from Karmiel/Misgav visiting Pittsburgh this week. As part of a six-year "sister city" relationship through the United Jewish Federation's Partnership 2000 program, the group is meeting with regional development officials, civic leaders and others.
The partnership links Israeli communities with cities worldwide to exchange ideas and resources in business, technology, health care and social issues.
A delegation from Pittsburgh, including Carnegie Mellon University President Jared Cohon, outgoing Pittsburgh Regional Alliance Chief Executive Tim Parks and PNC Financial economist Stuart Hoffman, spent three days in February in Karmiel/Misgav.
"They have a lot to teach us," said Richard Florida, professor of regional economic development at CMU's Heinz School of Public Policy and Management and another member of the Pittsburgh group that visited Israel.
Parks said the relationship helps raise Pittsburgh's global visibility and provides links with successful technology businesses from the Karmiel/Misgav region.
"Their challenge in Karmiel/Misgav is the need to attract more people to drive their economy, and we've got that issue too."
A planned community founded in 1964 about a half-hour's drive east of Haifa, Karmiel has a population of 48,000, many of them immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
Misgav is the suburban area that surrounds Karmiel.
The Karmiel/Misgav region is rich in high technology businesses and well-educated professionals because of Technion University, which Florida described as "the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of Israel."
The city of Karmiel, he said, "is very sophisticated; they've marketed themselves well." The city operates like a well-managed company that puts lots of emphasis on quality of life issues, Florida said.
As part of the collaboration, CMU has funded a fellowship that will send a student to Karmiel/Misgav this summer to conduct research.
While Karmiel/Misgav has a strong presence in information technologies and military defense businesses, it hopes to develop other industries, including biotechnology and integrated medicine and is exploring connections with Pittsburgh's medical community, said David Slyper, director of the Karmiel/Misgav Business Development Center.
The partnership between the two places isn't confined to business, however.
The UJF has tried to expose the Karmiel/Misgav representatives to social service agencies here to brainstorm on issues such as domestic violence and children with special needs.
And in October, Karmiel/Misgav will be the site of a walk/run race to promote women's health issues that is modeled after the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure held in cities across the United States.
|
||||||||||||
