American-Israel Chamber of Commerce

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Scitex Vision was named “Israeli Company of the Year” at the Eagle Star Awards Gala on June 16th in recognition of their outstanding execution that has generated both jobs and investment in the region and Israel. Resolute Networks and their US partner, ARRIS, were recognized as “Deal of the Year” for their joint venture to develop and market the Broadband industry’s first end-to-end solution that provides voice and data services to businesses over the existing cable infrastructure.

Organized by the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, SE Region to honor the people and companies who have contributed most to the Southeast-Israel business relationship, the program featured a keynote presentation by Duane Ackerman, Chairman and CEO of BellSouth, the region’s most significant corporate investor in Israel and purchaser of Israeli technology. A special video presentation on “Nasdaq and Israel” was premiered at the event that attracted almost 300 participants.

Also recognized was Martin Kogon who received the “Chamber Founders” award for his leadership with the Israel Economic Development Committee of the Jewish Federation Greater Atlanta that was instrumental in that organization’s pioneering support of AICC. The State of Israel Bonds-Atlanta Office received the “Community Partner” award in recognition of its fundraising work to finance needed infrastructure projects in Israel that support economic development and the organization’s growing strength in the Southeast through enabling legislation and purchase of bonds by the states of Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia.

“We congratulate these outstanding companies for their role in bringing cutting-edge technologies to the US market and for their contributions to the economic growth and reputation in our region and Israel. We were also pleased to showcase the contributions of a key individual and organization to the advancement of our cause,” said Dr. Larry Cooper, AICC Board chairman.

Other finalists for “Israeli Company of the Year” included Amdocs and Xtend Networks. Other finalists for “Deal of the Year” were Adroit/ MTRE/ Premier and Keter/ The Home Depot.

Herzliya-based Scitex Vision received the “Israeli Company of the Year” award in recognition of their well-deserved reputation as the leading developer, manufacturer and global distributor of digital ink-jet presses and inks for a variety of wide format graphics printing applications. Marietta, Georgia is home to the company’s Americas headquarters with its world-class digital printing applications and demonstration center, sales, marketing, distribution, customer service and financial operations for North and South America. With more than 2 years of steady quarter-over-quarter sales growth, the Americas operation reported 2004 revenues of $131 million and worldwide revenue growth of more than 35%. The company has also demonstrated a strong commitment to the community through their sponsorship of the Dodge Tour de Georgia cycling event with proceeds directly benefiting the Georgia Cancer Coalition.

Modi’in, Israel-based Resolute Networks, with its US headquarters in Atlanta, received the “Deal of the Year” award in recognition of their joint venture with Suwanee, Georgia-based ARRIS to develop and market the Broadband industry’s first end-to-end solution for cable/multi-service operators that provides voice and data services to hundreds of thousands of businesses over the existing cable infrastructure. The commercial services landscape provides a significant opportunity for cable operators to dramatically increase their revenue by providing the “Triple Play” for business customers and servicing nearby Cellular operators with TDM-only services.

Commercialization of the technology was validated by the BIRD Foundation through a major grant, and exemplifies the potential of a strong industry niche for both Israel and the Southeast.

AICC thanks event co-chairs Nancy Sousa (Given Imaging) and David Rubenstein (Miller Richmond Company) and our corporate sponsors for their support of the 4th annual Gala:

BellSouth, Atlanta Business Chronicle, The Coca-Cola Company, Grant Thornton, Pull-A-Part, Smith Gambrell & Russell, Deutsche Bank Alex.Brown, Given Imaging, Jones Day, McKenna Long & Aldridge, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, TTI Telecom, McKesson, Veritas Venture Partners, Aetos Technologies, Consulate General of Israel, Definition 6, Deutsch Family, Selig Family, Miller Richmond Company, MK Management, Nease, Lagana, Eden & Culley, National Distributing Company, and Omni National Bank.

For full details, visit www.eaglestargala.com

Petach Tikvah-based Lextran Ltd. has opened an office in Atlanta to be managed by Gene Rubel who has been named Director of Business Development. Rubel has extensive experience in managing business development efforts for Israeli technology startups, and has served for many years on the Board of Directors of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, SE Region.

Lextran has developed a unique process for simultaneous removal of a variety of pollutants from power plant and other industrial smokestacks burning fossil fuels, and is searching for a strategic partner to license and implement this technology in the United States. The U.S. air pollution control market for fossil fuel burning power generation exceeds $30 billion per year according to a variety of industry reports.

According to company officials, the pollutants addressed by the Lextran technology are sulfur oxides, nitric oxides and mercury and other heavy metals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has mandated pollution reduction from electrical power plants since the 70′s, and as a result, there has been substantial reduction in harmful emissions from power plant smokestacks. New regulations calling for more stringent emission control for these oxides of sulfur and nitrogen which contribute to acid rain and smog were promulgated by the EPA in March of this year. The concern about Mercury emissions is more recent and was brought to the forefront by recent EPA rules as well.

According to General Manager Haim Sterenfine, “The Lextran process, which received a U.S. patent last month, is the only process available that can simultaneously remove virtually all sulfur dioxide and any form of mercury as well as a substantial portion of nitric oxide contaminants. While we have done substantial testing of the process in the laboratory and pilot plants, we look forward to a substantial demonstration project where the true capabilities of the technology can be seen by the U.S. emission cleaning and power generation industries.”