The American electric company, Dominion, and the state of Virginia are looking in Israel for green technologies produced by blue-white

The project, backed by the American Electric Company, Dominion Resources and the State of Virginia, and supported by the Bird Foundation, the Embassy of Israel and the Israel-US Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will offer selected Israeli companies assistance in penetrating the American market

Israeli companies that tried in the past to penetrate the American market are already well aware of the many barriers to entry into this market, and the long and exhausting path they face. A number of entities recently joined together and initiated the "Clean Tech Gateway USA" project which will significantly facilitate the penetration of Israeli cleantech companies into the USA.

Behind the project stands an impressive group of entities, including ZAG/S&W, an Israeli-American law firm, which offers extensive experience in policy, legislation, regulation and other issues involved in managing business in a world whose energy production is limited, the commercialization center of the electricity giant Dominion Resources, Virgin Yania and Wellford Energy, which focuses on implementing green technologies in the public sector. Among the other supporters of the project: the BIRD Foundation and BIRD Energy, which will invest up to one million dollars in joint projects between Israel and the US.

The main sponsor of the project is one of the largest electricity companies in the world, Dominion Resources, which has a market value of 15.1 billion dollars. Dominion recently opened a dedicated division for alternative energy, whose mission is to locate clean energy technologies and innovative green alternatives around the world. The company and its partners in the venture will offer assistance in developing a strategy, potential investments, and preferential access to the company's experts in the fields of business and technology, as well as conducting trials in its facilities.

In the first phase of the program, initial interviews of Dominion's professional staff with the selected Israeli companies will be held in Israel (between January 9-13, 2011). In the second phase, between March 29-31, 2011, 5-8 companies will be invited to the USA, for meetings with private investor groups, venture capital funds and other relevant businessmen, as well as meetings with Dominion company experts, in the technical, financial and marketing fields.

The Israeli companies that will be selected for the program must engage in the fields of green or alternative energy, be established or ready for the commercialization stage, and demonstrate a strong IP. Among the fields of activity suitable for the program are Smart Grid technologies, electric vehicles, storage technologies, energy conservation and other clean energy technologies.

Gary Cortes who will head Dominion's delegation to Israel:"Israel's leadership in the fields of technology and innovation is well known. The Dominion Resources GreenTech commercialization center is ready to work with technologies in the fields of green and alternative energy from around the world. In the upcoming trip to Israel, we believe that we will definitely find some such technologies and we will offer the companies behind them our assistance in testing and commercializing their products."

Ralph Robbins, Director of VIAB from the Virginia Governor's Office: "The dizzying success of the Israeli biomed project in the US and the knowledge that there are many cleantech companies in Israel ripe for commercialization, led us to the conclusion that we can help here as well." The global cleantech market is growing at a fast pace and beyond product or technology innovation, a support system and specialized accompaniment of professionals in the field is needed and this is where we come into the picture: the goal is for the partners in the venture to find companies that are ready for commercialization, with a proven concept and go hand in hand with them until the final commercialization in the American market."

Virginia already has some very impressive Israeli success stories, including the Sabra Dipping company (from the Strauss Group in partnership with PepsiCo), which opened a $68 million manufacturing plant there, and the "Virginia-Israel" life sciences commercialization center, in which 12 Israeli companies currently operate, With the support of a venture capital fund of 18 million dollars so far.

For more information and to register for the program