Why does Israeli Innovation Contribute $2.4 Billion To The Massachusetts Economy?

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Jeffrey Tobias in Culture of innovation, Innovation

A study has been released released at the New England-Israel Business Council’s 2010 Life Sciences Summit at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts revealed the scope and impact of Israeli related businesses on the Massachusetts economy. This is an astounding amount of money – imagine if this was scaled to other states and countries around the world. Indeed, imaging if the entrepreneurship spirit of Israel was also replicated in other countries! The impact would truly be astonishing.

The new study, “The Massachusetts-Israel Economic Relationship,” conducted by Stax Inc., an independent global strategy consulting firm, shows the impact of Israeli innovation and entrepreneurship on the Commonwealth’s economy, and underscores the importance of Israeli relations to the state, especially in the area of life sciences and high-tech.

Highlights of the study include:

* Nearly 100 companies in Massachusetts are founded by Israelis or offer products based on Israeli technology.
* These businesses generated $2.4 billion in direct revenue in Massachusetts in 2009.
* In total, the direct and indirect revenue impact on the Massachusetts economy was $7.8 billion.
* From an employment perspective, these businesses directly generated 5,920 jobs in Massachusetts.
* 50% of these businesses focus on information technology, 29% are in life sciences, and the remainder in other industries.
* Israeli entrepreneurs chose Massachusetts over other U.S. destinations to launch or grow their enterprises due to the deep talent pool of educated workers, the opportunity to be part of an industry cluster, world class universities and outstanding business infrastructure.

The Stax study, which surveyed Massachusetts business executives of companies based on Israeli innovation and entrepreneurship, also found that other states are aggressively pursuing linkages with Israeli businesses. The analysis also details ways that Massachusetts can strengthen its economic ties with Israel and compete with other states.

“The Massachusetts-Israel Economic Relationship” study was released at the New England-Israel Business Council’s 2010 Life Sciences Summit hosted by Brandeis International Business School. “The Massachusetts-Israel Economic Relationship” study was commissioned, in part, by the Combined Jewish Philanthropies.