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The Maryland/Israel Development Center helps Israeli companies find a home on the American east coast.

Take a drive up Interstate 95 and you’ll hit all the classics. Starting in Miami, Florida, the road is almost 2,000 miles of American classic cities such as Richmond, Washington DC., New York, and Boston.

Among them is Baltimore, in The Old Line State of Maryland, which acts as the primary city in the state but by no means represents it in its entirety. Maryland, with a population of just more than 6 million and close proximity to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, makes it an attractive location for Israelis who are interested in expanding their business or setting up shop in the northeast United States.

“Maryland is one of the highest educated workforces in the country, if not the highest. That’s a great option for Israeli companies looking to move here,” explained David Speer, Executive Director at the Maryland/Israel Development Center (MIDC). Founded roughly 30 years ago, it is a non-profit ‘public-private partnership’ of the Maryland Department of Commerce, Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Trade, and ‘The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore’ to promote bilateral trade between the state of Maryland and Israel. The organization also has “the full backing and support” of the Baltimore and Maryland Jewish communities at large.

“The cost of living and ease of living should not be underestimated,” he continued. “Using New York and California as examples, our cost of living is much much lower. There is a great Jewish and Israeli community in Baltimore and that community feel is something we can offer.”

Currently, Maryland is home to 42 Israeli companies and Speer reveals that there is recently a focus on Israeli companies opening up their primary headquarters in the state. Examples of this include defense company Elibit Systems (and its subsidiary Cyberbit), agricultural biotechnology company Evogene, and medical device company Medispec. In total, around half of Israeli companies in Maryland are in the life science sector and roughly a third are in cyber and defense.

One of the challenges the Center faces is convincing companies to grow outside of just individual representatives (such as sales reps of C-Level executives) working from home, and instead encouraging companies to open full-scale facilities and physical offices for staff. “If we had had this conversation pre-Covid, I would be saying there would be more physical offices for these companies, but we are seeing less and less of that,” he confessed. It is a trend that the MIDC hopes to reverse in time.

While the MIDC is technically apolitical, the fact that the state is so close to the federal government makes it suitable for companies that want to work with “the acronym agencies” that exist in the D.C area such as the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and FDA (Food and Drug Administration). It is also surrounded by respected academic institutions such as Georgetown University, which focuses on business, law, and international relations, and John Hopkins, known for its medicine, public health, and science programs.

A focus of the MIDC is to maintain the healthy growth of the existing 42 Israeli companies while also attracting new companies to consider it as a location for expansion in the U.S. For Speer, that includes anything an Israeli company might need, such as facilitating meetings to help with real estate, attorneys, or even Jewish day schools in the Maryland area.

In its 30-year period, the MIDC has enjoyed the full support of the state’s Governor’s Office and has led every governor’s mission to Israel across political party lines. Each governor has visited Israel at least once (except for its most recent, Democrat Governor Moore, who was inaugurated in January 2023 and promises to make it one of his first overseas trips), and they all have expressed a special interest in maintaining the state’s relationship with Israel.

The MIDC is careful to promote the state of Maryland as a whole and not fall into the trap of large cities in modest states acting as the de facto representation for it in its entirety. For example, the North I-270 Technology Corridor boasts one of the most impressive tech/bioscience clusters in the United States and is made up of a triangle between Baltimore, Washington D.C., and Frederick, the second largest city in the state and only a day’s drive from two-thirds of the entire American population. “The pull in Baltimore is strong there but there are places not to be overlooked, that’s for sure,” he added.

With the pandemic safely behind us, the Maryland/Israel Development Center is back hosting “fewer but larger” in-person events for the Israeli community, local partners, and the state at large. In May, the state celebrated Israel’s 75th birthday and the MIDC’s calendar is filling up in the Fall with a webinar series focusing on agtech and the role of IP for Israeli companies looking to locate in Maryland. It also plans to recontinue its flagship program, MarketReach America, an accelerator program that takes 10-15 companies from Israel to Maryland and offer ‘speed dating’ opportunities with service providers, and introductions to key politicians and government workers.

“We’re definitely not near the level of in-person events we were pre-Covid, and I think that’s ok,” he concluded. “I think it’s important for us to have in-person events, it is important for people to gather and the synergy and networking that happens here is really important.”

by James Spiro

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bkbj8ntyh

BioHarvest has developed a patented bio-cell growth platform technology (“botanical synthesis”) capable of harnessing the active & beneficial ingredients in fruits & plants. BioHarvest is working with “super star” nutrients found in red grapes, olives, and pomegranates. The company is developing the next generation of science-based, clinical trial tested and validated health-promoting solutions, in nutraceutical wellness products that will focus, in time, on specific medical indications.

Below is Dr. Brian Cornblatt’s, BioHarvest Science’s Chief Medical Officer’s recent blog on the company’s breakthrough innovations.

May 19, 2023

Biotech firm, recognized by Fast Company for “World Changing Idea,” offers paradigm-shifting innovation

 By Dr. Brian Cornblatt

The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates has been hailed as the father of Western medicine because of his revolutionary belief that food — not magic or “the gods” — was the best medicine. Considering the number of pharmaceutical drugs derived from plant molecules, Hippocrates’ daring assertion seems prescient. And yet, the promise of his recommendation has struggled to reach its full potential.

Indeed, it is among the great vexations of our era: while the nutrients found in plants have enormous potential for aiding human health and wellness, it has been difficult to access this treasure.  Tapping the full potential of the plant at industrial scale through agriculture only would be slow, wasteful, and expensive. In a word: unsustainable.

That’s why it is worth taking a look at processes developed in a lab in Rehovot, Israel, by an innovative startup that has just been recognized by Fast Company on its annual list of “World Changing Ideas.” The company, called BioHarvest Sciences, can effectively replicate plant cells that then reproduce at a speed not found in nature in patented liquid-filled bioreactors.

It would be hard to overstate the potential impact of this innovation – a paradigm-shifting breakthrough, unique at present to this company, which if applied widely could finally enable humanity to tap the power of the plant.

Although the company has also replicated olive and pomegranate cells, its main focus in recent months has been red grapes – whose “superstar” nutrient, Piceid resveratrol, is especially beneficial to humans, and extremely useful as a dietary supplement.

But the declining quality of soils in which plants and herbs are grown raise questions about the quality and potency of dietary supplements, in general. BioHarvest has eliminated that question by sourcing nutrients from botanical cells grown in bioreactors; not in farm- or vineyard-soil. 

Having demonstrated the feasibility of its idea, the company then tackled an equally daunting task: Ramping up its output on an industrial scale.

And it has raised the bar for all nutraceuticals by delivering clean and concentrated nutrients with benefits rooted in science and validated by human clinical trials.

“Our strong emphasis on botanical biology is what makes BioHarvest Sciences unique” in the nutraceutical industry,” said Dr. Zaki Rakib, BioHarvest Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board.

Re-imagining bioreactors

Bioreactor technology has only been used to manufacture a very small range of biological agents (such as a vaccine and a chemotherapy drug). Plant-based nutritional supplements have never been manufactured in bioreactors because their operational costs have kept the nutraceutical industry on the sidelines.

But the bioreactor technologies invented and patented by BioHarvest have been deployed to launch its first nutraceutical, called VINIA, which contains the entire matrix of red-grape nutrients. Once they’re placed inside a bioreactor, the selected red-grape cells are stimulated with artificial stimuli (such as agitation), which the cells “interpret” as survival threats.

In nature, plants respond to such threats—fungi, insects, ultraviolet radiation or some other stressor—by synthesizing secondary metabolites: polyphenolic molecules which can, in many cases, support human wellness, as well.

Also known as phytonutrients, the molecules accrue in sealed bioreactors filled with a proprietary mixture of minerals and other plant nutrition. Once the volume of polyphenols reaches a certain point, they are “harvested” from the nutritional medium—which is re-“planted” with fresh cells derived from the “one chosen fruit” which, during years of cross-breeding, and non GMO, was found to yield the greatest bounty of phytonutrients).

“Our bioreactors mimic conditions found in nature and nourish the cells with nutrients that are found in nature; so we are ‘bringing nature inside’— and we never have to worry about soil composition or a fungus affecting the polyphenol content of our products,” said Malkit Azachi, BioHarvest’s VP of R&D.

Breakthrough innovations

The VINIA powder harvested from industrial sized  bioreactors is now scaled to a 20 tons per year capacity, with further production growth planned, but the deployment of bioreactors to manufacture nutraceuticals from plant cells has required major innovations in the vessels’ design.

Previously, such bioreactors have been constructed of glass or steel. While that offers durability, those materials bring with them daunting maintenance costs, especially for cleaning and sterilizing the vessels after they are emptied.

Sterilization is critical because the biological reactions sustained by the bioreactors occur in the presence of warmth, nutrients, and turbulence resulting from intentional agitation and oxygenation.  As a result, the liquid in the bioreactors is a fertile medium for microbial growth.

Consequently, steel-or-glass bioreactors must be thoroughly cleaned and restored to sterility (and tested for sterility) before they are re-filled to repeat a manufacturing process.

The restoration of purity to glass or steel bioreactors is a time-consuming (and thus costly) process. In some cases, the costs are justified by the profits from the products they manufacture. But the costs are prohibitive for nutraceutical companies because of their generally-small profit margins.

BioHarvest has eliminated the necessity for frequent and costly cleaning cycles by using large-volume, disposable, polyethylene vessels for their bioreactors – specially designed to accommodate a wide range of critical functions.

For example:

• Because metabolic processes (like the synthesis of secondary-metabolites) yield gases of one kind or another, the disposable vessels had to be designed with gas-exchange ports.
• The vessels were re-designed with “harvesting ports” which enable the company to culture and harvest cells for two growth-cycles before a bioreactor is discarded.
• To ensure that the cells growing in a medium can be “fed” or oxygenated, as necessary, the vessels were re-designed with inlets whose placement would ensure an even distribution of whichever inputs had to be added.

The nutritional ‘superstar’

These bioreactors are currently being deployed to produce VINIA in mass quantities, and they will eventually be deployed to manufacture nutraceuticals containing nutrients grown by olive- and pomegranate cells as well.   

“We aim to have multiple products in the marketplace as others enter and proceed through the pipeline,” said Yochi Hagay, Chief Technology Officer.

Via VINIA, BioHarvest is the world’s only company offering a “nutritional superstar” —Piceid resveratrol—in therapeutic amounts. What makes this phytonutrient special?

The answer is that the resveratrol or trans-resveratrol provided by other nutritional supplements has a very short half-life in the digestive system. Consequently, most of the resveratrol extracted from the usual commercial sources—knotweed or grape skins—is broken down long before it can pass through the gastrointestinal tract and into the bloodstream.

Piceid resveratrol, however, has a carbohydrate molecule bonded to its structure – an addition known as glycosylation – which enables it to enter the bloodstream perfectly intact  just 20 minutes after a VINIA capsule is ingested, preventing its premature metabolism in the upper GI tract.

There is a simpler way to put it. Piceid resveratrol is believed to be responsible for the cardiovascular wellness exhibited by French people consuming enormous quantities of saturated fat—along with copious quantities of red wine. It’s thought that the wine delivers enough Piceid resveratrol to offset the effects of all that fat.

So for those who prefer to skip the alcohol while benefiting from the entire matrix of red-grape phytonutrients, particularly Piceid resveratrol, the VINIA solution is one that Hippocrates would surely endorse. To paraphrase him: Let plants be thy medicine.

Dr. Brian Cornblatt is the Chief Medical Officer of Bioharvest.

Forrest Innovations USA, Inc., headquartered in Frederick, MD, is a subsidiary of Forrest Innovations Israel, an environmental technology start-up developing and commercializing a ground-breaking clean technology to fight mosquito-borne diseases.

Mosquito-borne diseases are becoming a growing threat to both human populations and food security worldwide. Climate change has affected the breeding seasons of mosquitoes, causing invasive species to spread and seasonal populations to last longer. This increases the chances of mosquitoes transmitting seriously debilitating or lethal viruses to humans. Additionally, urbanization has led to more contact between humans and wildlife, which can introduce new pathogens transmitted from mosquitos to human populations at an alarming rate. Other than yellow fever (YFV) vaccines, there are currently no widely accessible vaccines or specific treatments to prevent or treat mosquito-borne infections. In the United States, mosquito-borne disease mitigation strategies rely heavily on the widespread use of pesticides, especially where population densities are high. However, this solution is not sustainable because it fails to account for the increased chemical and ecological resistance of the insects to these interventions and the ecological damage it causes. Moreover, the use of chemicals is a great cause for concern due to the collateral damage to already endangered honeybees and insect biodiversity.

Forrest Innovations’ Natural Vector Control (NVC) solution produces highly competitive sterile male mosquitoes (initially collected locally and bred in large numbers in Forrest facilities. The male mosquitos are safe. They don’t bite humans (or other animals), they do not transmit any viruses and are free of any genetic modification (non-GMO) or chemical reagents. After these males copulate with the wild female mosquitos (each female mates once, whereas males can mate multiple times), the eggs the females oviposit are unfertilized, causing the gradual decline of the wild mosquito population in the treated area.

Forrest’s mosquito population suppression technology disrupts the vector-control market, providing a dramatic paradigm shift in reducing disease-transmitting mosquito populations in the regions of operation.

In Brazil, beginning in 2018, Forrest developed four rounds of testing of its NVC technology. Millions of NVC-treated mosquitoes were produced and released during the pilot project in Jacarezinho, Paraná (de Castro Poncio, et al. 2021). Following this successful project, on November 23, 2020, Forrest signed a contract with Klabin, one of Brazil’s largest pulp and paper producers, to produce and release sterile male mosquitoes in the city of Ortigueira. Under the supervision of and in compliance with instructions provided by local EPA-equivalent authorities, the initiative provided for the production and release of NVC mosquitoes in the municipality, which achieved a 99% reduction in the wild Aedes aegypti mosquito populations, demonstrating the effectiveness of the technology in reducing the number of mosquitoes that transmit Dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya, as published in the Lancet Regional Health – Americas (de Castro Poncio, et al. 2023 /.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667193X23000728).

Forrest is the only company with peer-reviewed, proven evidence for preventing Dengue in Brazil, where it has already demonstrated remarkable results in mosquito-borne disease reduction.

The West Nile Virus (WNV) poses a serious neuro-invasive disease threat. Since WNV became widely established in the U.S., an average of 2,400 cases per year have been reported, and more than 50% of cases are of severe neuroinvasive disease, of which around 5% result in death. The United States CDC has identified West Nile Virus among the top eight priority zoonotic diseases of national concern. The CDC, state and local governments are urgently seeking cost-effective, socially, culturally, and environmentally acceptable solutions, especially in underrepresented communities.  

The global cost of mosquito-transmitted diseases exceeds $40 billion annually. In the post-COVID-19 world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has listed mosquitos as one of the top threats to public health. The global market for Vector Control was valued at US$17.3 Billion in 2022. It is expected to grow and reach US$25.7 Billion by 2030, with a steady annual growth rate of 5.1% between 2022 and 2030. Specifically, the insect control segment is predicted to grow at 5.5% and reach US$15.3 Billion.

The SIT (sterile insect technique) methodology Forrest developed to suppress mosquito populations can be applied to many different species, resulting in sterile male mosquitoes that are highly competitive with wild mosquitoes, a significant advantage over other methodologies. Furthermore, the sterilization treatment is 100% effective and restricted to the treated mosquitoes. It is environmentally safe and prevents the harm caused by the use of chemical pesticides.

In the US, Forrest Innovations opened its HQ and research lab in Frederick, Maryland. In this lab, Forrest’s team applies the technique for local strain mosquitos. As it plans to commercialize its technology in the US, Forrest is conducting the lab experiments and trials required to acquire the US EPA approval for field trials. These field trials are planned to begin in the summer of 2024.

Following successful field trials, Forrest Innovations plans to expand its operations in Maryland to open NVC sterile male mosquito production facilities and provide its solution to state and local governments or mosquito abatement districts nationwide.

With its safe, non-genetically modified solution, Forrest Innovations’ vision is to eliminate the risk of mosquito-borne disease while avoiding the use of dangerous chemicals, applying its green, environmentally safe technology.

TendoMend Ltd. is a private Israeli medical device start-up company developing and commercializing an innovative Dynamic Tendon Grip (DTG™) surgical device to replace the traditional, time-consuming nonunified suturing techniques of tendon laceration and rupture repairs. Hand tendon lacerations, which count for about 2/3 of tendon surgery repairs, are particularly difficult to treat with over 25% of complications and patients achieving an unsatisfactory clinical outcome, and more than 7% of repairs, requiring repeat surgery. There is a clear need for a better solution for tendon repair facilitating improved healing, fewer complications and revised surgery, shorter and standardized procedures and improved short and long-term outcomes.

 Dr. Brian Polsky, Orthopaedic Surgeon and Sports Medicine Specialist in Catonsville, Columbia, and Eldersburg, serves on the Medical Advisory Board of TendoMend and spoke with MIDC recently about TendoMend’s cadaver trials and work in Maryland.

What is TendoMend’s DTG Device?

The DTG™ surgical device is comprised of an innovative knots array implant made out of the strongest braided suture and deployment applicator; both are single-use devices. The loop/knot-configured implant establishes a grip that is based on an external embrace of the entire tendon enabling a controlled, stable, and accurate alignment between the two torn tendon stumps. This prevents damage to the tendon texture and allows for a stronger, less traumatic anastomosis while maintaining the original tendon profile and permits smooth gliding through the pulleys (tunnels) with minimal trauma to the surrounding tissues.

TendoMend’s Connection to Maryland

Following successful animal safety studies in Turkey model with follow-up and histopathology evaluation, the Company has conducted a safety and feasibility biomechanical studies in the human cadaver model. In these studies, The DTG™ implant demonstrated superiority over the traditional suturing repair in achieving a low-profile flexor tendon repair that did not impair finger range of motion even without pulley venting, higher load to failure force, and the clinically non-significant gap formation between the two stumps. Moreover, repair failure with the implant occurred at the suture level and not at the knot level, making the repair success less reliant on the surgeons’ skill and more reliant on stronger suture materials. The cadaver biomechanical study was accepted and published last April as an article in the BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, a leading orthopedic journal under the title “ Dynamic Tendon Grip (DTG™) novel knot array compared to traditional sutures for zone two flexor tendon injury – a biomechanical feasibility study.

(https://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12891-022-05279-9)

TendoMend also conducted last October a hand cadaver trial at the Cadaver Lab in Howard County. The trial was performed by Dr. Khurram Pervaiz and Dr, Brian Janz, two senior hand surgeons of the Center of Advanced Orthopedic (CAM – https://www.cfaortho.com/). The procedure and the first-time use of the DTG^TM device by the above surgeons and the deployment of the DTG^TM implant were performed without any major difficulties. The results were impressive and the loading of the tendon while moving the finger did not create any gap, enabled smooth gliding, and held a substantial force. Both Dr. Khurram and Dr. Janz were excited about the DTG device and its performance and looked forward to participating in TendoMend’s clinical trial in the US.

Clinical Need for TendoMend

The company is scheduled to initiate in Q3 this year following the DTG^TM device finetuning and device freeze an FIH clinical trial in Israel to prove the device’s safety and efficacy on a small scale. A multicentral clinical trial in excellence centers in the US is scheduled for Q2 next year as part of a multicentral clinical trial in excellence centers in the US.

Market Penetration

The Company will enter the US market in Q2 of 2024 following the receipt of market clearance by the FDA. The initial market release will be a soft launch in which the device will be sold to a limited number of hospitals, which will serve as centers of excellence. The choice of hospitals to be included in the initial market release will be based on using leading orthopedic surgeons who will serve to extensively promote the DTG™ device within the surgical community. These Key Opinion Leaders (KOL’s) will promote the device in peer-reviewed journals, leading conferences (ASSH, AAHS, etc.), training seminars and by participating in online promotional campaigns. Three of the initial sites for commercial utilization are expected to be the Centers of Advanced Orthopedic in Maryland; Washington University Hospital’s Orthopedics department for use by the Company’s advisor Prof. Martin Boyer, head of the Hand and Microsurgery service, and Stanford University Medical Center’s Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery for use by the Company’s advisor Prof. James Chang, Chief of the division.

The Company will prepare for its launch with a detailed upstream marketing plan (hospital-dedicated economic value models, marketing collateral, social media, etc.) and a sales support plan (training materials, seminars, small hospital-centered post-marketing studies, etc.).

Following initial commercial sales in the US the Company expects at the beginning of 2025 to expand into Europe. In the EU the Company will focus first on 1-2 major countries and will use leading local distributors in the orthopedic market.

The Company’s goal as part of this soft launch is to generate maximum exposure for the device within the orthopedic community and industry as well as to generate initial revenues – particularly in the US market. These two elements are expected to position the Company such that it will attract a large strategic partner, which will lead to large-scale marketing of the device worldwide. Such an agreement is expected to be secured during the second half of 2024, leading to substantial market expansion during 2025 and onwards.

What stage is the company in now?

The company has accomplished the development and manufacturing of an advanced DTG^TM device prototype, and successful pre-clinical, and cadaver biomechanical studies with significantly better results and outcomes in comparison to the current suturing practice. Four different patent families have already been submitted describing the innovative DTG^TM technology and device and the first one has already been granted by the patent offices in the US and Europe. Accomplishing finetuning of the device is scheduled during Q3 of this year with the announcement of the device freeze and proceeding with the FIH clinical trial and the FDA regulatory clearance track. The company had initiated discussions with multinational orthopedic companies such as DePuy Synthesis (J&J orthopedic company), Zimmer Biomet, Arthrex, and Medartis, which have shown great interest in the DTGTM technology and device and expressed their interest to enter into cooperation once entering into the clinical trial phase.

What is the company looking for in Maryland?

Here are the two main objectives:

a.           A leading center for performing the multi-central clinical trial in cooperation with The Centers of Advanced Orthopedic and later for a soft launch of the device in the US market.

b.           Participation of the local medical angel investors and clubs in the company’s current bridge funds raising round prior to entering into a strategic partnership with one of the multinational orthopedic companies.

More information about TendoMend can be found on their website.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Maryland Commerce Secretary Kevin Anderson and Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld announced the expansion of Israel’s ZIM Shipping lines new service to the Port of Baltimore. “This is great news for the Port of Baltimore,” said Maryland Port Administration and Port of Baltimore Executive Director William P. Doyle. “ZIM has excelled in utilizing our existing rail network to bring cargo into the Midwest. With our ultra-large, Neo-Panamax cranes and our incredible network of regional distribution, fulfillment, and sorting centers, the future has never been brighter for the container business in Baltimore.” Rick Powers, Director, Business Development, Maryland Port Administration, traveled on Governor Martin O’Malley MIDC Trade Mission in 2014 to Israel and met Zim Shipping line.

ZIM will increase the size of its ships coming into the port by nearly 50 percent—first utilizing 6,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit container vessels, and eventually 8,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit container ships.

The Baltimore Express is operated exclusively by ZIM and offers customers the fastest transit time from Asia to Baltimore. The service began last spring between China, Southeast Asia and the U.S. East Coast. ZIM operates a fleet of close to 100 vessels with significant international container market share. The firm’s global footprint includes Transpacific, Cross Atlantic, Cross Suez, Intra-Asia, and Latin America trade lanes.

The upgraded around-the-world weekly service will use the Panama and Suez canals, with a route traveling from Jakarta, Indonesia; Laem Chabang, Thailand; Cai Mep, Vietnam; Yantian, China; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; the Panama Canal; and Kingston, Jamaica before coming to Baltimore. From Maryland, the line follows to Norfolk, New York, Boston, the Suez Canal and Kaohsiung. The call at Kingston will enhance access to goods from Africa.

The Port of Baltimore currently generates about 15,300 direct jobs, with nearly 140,000 jobs overall linked to port activities. It ranks first among the nation’s ports for volume of autos and light trucks, roll-on/roll-off heavy farm and construction machinery, and imported gypsum. It ranks ninth for total foreign cargo value and eleventh among major U.S. ports for foreign cargo handled. Baltimore is the first U.S. port of call for this expanded service. 

Baltimore is a prime gateway for goods heading to the e-commerce market and for cargo sent to the Midwest via rail. Maryland’s Port has handled nearly 100 “ad hoc” ship calls—including extra loaders from ZIM—during recovery from the pandemic. Ad hoc ships are vessels diverted to Baltimore that were not on a regularly scheduled service call.

The Port of Baltimore’s rising container business will be further buoyed by expansion of the CSX-owned Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore, which is underway and scheduled to be completed in 2025. The expanded tunnel will accommodate double-stacked container rail cars traveling to and from the port, clearing a longtime hurdle and providing the East Coast with seamless double-stack capacity from Maine to Florida, as well as the ability to send double-stacked containers by rail into the Ohio Valley and on to Chicago. The project involves clearance improvements in the 127-year-old tunnel and at 21 other locations between Baltimore and Philadelphia.

The Howard Street Tunnel project benefits from public-private investment, including from the federal government, Maryland, CSX. The project is expected to increase the port’s business by about 160,000 containers annually. It also will generate about 6,550 construction jobs and an additional 7,300 jobs from the increased business.

Baltimore Sun February 10, 2023 article below:

Port of Baltimore to get increased business from shipping line that supports e-commerce

In a boost for the Port of Baltimore, ocean carrier ZIM Shipping Line plans to expand to weekly service, bringing larger ships with cargo headed for customers throughout the U.S., Gov. Wes Moore announced Thursday, February 9, 2023.

ZIM, one of the port’s major container shipping customers, will double the frequency of its E-commerce Baltimore Express from bi-weekly to weekly service at the end of February, the governor’s office said in a news release. ZIM plans to expand the size of its vessels by nearly 50 percent to carry more cargo.

ZIM’s Baltimore Express, which started in the spring between China, Southeast Asia and the East Coast, offers customers the fastest transit time from Asia to Baltimore. The ships will use the Panama and Suez canals.

“When one of the leading container shipping companies in the world increases its business here, it’s a reflection of the maritime industry’s strong confidence in both Maryland’s Port and Maryland’s workers,” Moore said in a statement.

Baltimore is a prime gateway for goods heading to the e-commerce market and for cargo sent to the Midwest via rail.

The port benefits from its location within an overnight drive to more than a third of the U.S. population, which has spurred growth in e-commerce businesses such as distribution centers around the state, said Kevin A. Anderson, the state’s acting commerce secretary, in the announcement.

The port generates about 15,300 direct jobs and 140,000 jobs overall linked to port activities. Expanded business from ZIM will mean additional work hours for the longshore labor force, said Scott Cowan, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 133.

ZIM, an Israeli shipping company, operates a fleet of nearly 100 vessels and is among the largest container shipping lines in the world.

Story by Lorraine Mirabella, Baltimore Sun • Friday, February 10, 2023

Fresh from his election victory, Maryland Gov.-elect Wes Moore (D) stood in front of 250 members of the Jewish community last week and promised one of his first overseas visits will be to Israel.

“We are going to be very aggressive” in promoting trade between Maryland and Israel, he said during the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington’s legislative breakfast at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac. Read more>>>

AmplioSpeech, RADA USA and NAYAX are the 3 Israeli companies with headquarters in Maryland ranked as the fastest growing Israeli companies. Read more>>>.

February 14, 2022 by Amanda Winters

For the past 30 years, the Maryland/Israel Development Center (MIDC) has promoted bi-lateral trade and collaboration between the state and the Middle Eastern country. With a new executive director this year, the nonprofit is working hard to strengthen the partnership between the regions, while touting the benefits of doing business in Maryland.

MIDC – which is a public-private partnership between the Maryland Department of Commerce and Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Trade – has helped several international businesses successfully open offices in Maryland in recent years, including RADA Technologies, AmplioSpeech, and ELTA.

We sat down with the newly named director, David Speer, to discuss his new role and the organization’s impact on economic development throughout Maryland.

As MIDC’s new executive director, what are you looking forward to most?
I am looking forward to continuing to grow and strengthen the economic bonds between my two favorite places – Israel and Maryland. Also, this role varies so much each day – whether it’s meeting with Israeli or Maryland companies, working with the State of Maryland, or getting the word out about the MIDC – and I’m already enjoying how different each day can be.

We have seen the state lead several trade missions to Israel over the years. How do these trips benefit the state and its businesses?
The primary goal of these missions is to foster connections between business leaders. Perhaps the most important part of this is to entice Israeli companies to open an office, lab, or workplace in Maryland. The missions enable Israelis to see how Maryland’s business community is thriving and how important growth is here in our state. In turn, Israeli businesses will naturally want to work with Maryland businesses, leading to economic growth.

Similarly, how do these missions benefit companies located in Israel?
‘Showing off’ Maryland’s incredible human capital, business infrastructure, and its expanding innovative business culture is key to attracting Israeli businesses to Maryland as their gateway into the vast US market. In particular, our state is a world leader in a variety of fields and the ecosystem of the private sector, academia and local and federal government entities is an important factor in foreign businesses opening in Maryland.

What do Maryland and Israel have in common?
Other than the obvious culture of innovation and commitment to economic development, both places have parallel strengths in a wide variety of businesses such as medical technologies and biotech, cybersecurity and defense, and the emerging industries of artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.

What is one thing you want people to know about MIDC’s role in supporting economic development throughout Maryland?
The Maryland/Israel Development Center is a one-stop shop for all business and trade for both places. Through our leadership, staff and vast network the MIDC provides an instant infrastructure to make connections across all business in the private sector. Managing these connections is the primary role of the MIDC and enables our organization to be ready to help with any issue or overcome any obstacle.
 

By Amanda Winters, Communications Manager, Maryland Department of Commerce

Maryland and Israel may be separated by many miles, but the connection is much closer when it comes to innovative ideas and developing programs that benefit all.

LifeBridge Health is well known as one of the state’s leading health systems with five hospitals (including Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital), more than 1,700 physicians and a range of complementary medical programs to provide care for patients whatever their health care needs. However, this Maryland-based health system is also a leader in healthcare innovation.

One of those innovations is LifeBridge Health’s Israel Contact Center, based in Jerusalem. Launched just a few years ago, the Israeli-based team members provide a strong complement to the teams working here in Maryland. The Contact Center teams take on some of the follow-up support and answering patient questions, allowing the local teams to focus more on direct, hands-on patient care.

The Contact Center employs advanced practice providers (APPs), social workers, nurses and support staff in Israel. All are licensed in Maryland and living in Israel. They are completely up to date on Maryland regulations, including pandemic standards, as well as compliant with the Israeli government pandemic response guidelines.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the focus of the center has shifted to support the virus response in the community. This includes the APPs working with Maryland patients on the results of their COVID-19 tests and answering patient questions. They also provide medical advice for each patient on next steps in conjunction with a team in Maryland. The APPs also monitor the electronic platform GetWell Loop.

The licensed clinical social workers provide crisis evaluation support to the emergency department teams at LifeBridge Health hospitals in Maryland via telemedicine.

Nurses work with patients to schedule their COVID tests and to provide accurate updated information on access to vaccines in Maryland. In addition to the pandemic response actions above, this staff engages with patients after discharge, ensuring their transition to home is safe. They also contact the patients’ Maryland providers to make sure they are aware of the clinical follow-up actions needed. Finally, they provide “ask-a-nurse” style support for some of LifeBridge Health’s clinical practices. There are nine nurses on the Jerusalem team, and they work with as many as 50 patients a day.

There is a phone number that supports questions coming into LifeBridge Health. When patients call that number, they could be talking to a Maryland-based nurse or an Israel-based nurse. The center is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Another shift during the COVID pandemic, the Contact “Center” is actually not a center anymore, with the LifeBridge Health team members in Israel working remotely from home.

The Israel Contact Center is only one example of LifeBridge Health’s innovative initiatives. The health system has an Innovation Department to work with businesses and partners, including healthcare start-ups, to develop solutions that may benefit patients. Recent programs include a business incubator initiative with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and a partnership with Live Chair, a program working with local barbers to bring their clients health information and screenings. To learn more about LifeBridge Health, you can go to lifebridgehealth.org.

“LifeBridge Health is an innovative healthcare system always looking for new technologies and techniques to advance patient care. They’re a great partner to work with.” stated Barry Bogage, Executive Director, Maryland/Israel Development Center.

Pictured above is Jonathan Moles, Assistant Vice President at LifeBridge Health-2018