Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC)
January 19, 2016 |
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Israeli company CEMax’s move to Greater Cincinnati was meant to be: WCPO article by Lucy May
By Lucy May
CINCINNATI — As far as economic development deals go, it’s not the region’s largest.
But the establishment of an Israeli company’s U.S. headquarters here could be the most meant-to-be. Consider the facts.
Ziv Riezman was thinking about expanding his fast-growing company CEMax to the United States. CEMax helps its corporate clients improve the experiences that customers have with their companies. Already 80 percent of the banks in Israel are its customers, and Riezman knew he needed to look outside his home country to grow his business.
“We felt we needed to open a new, large market. We decided on the states,” Riezman said. “The initial reaction was, let’s open in New York and live in New Jersey, and this was our initial intention.”
But just a week later, Riezman got an email from City Hall in Netanya, Cincinnati’s sister city in Israel. The email explained that a delegation from Greater Cincinnati would be visiting Netanya to discuss business opportunities in the Tri-State and invited him to breakfast.
He figured: “Let’s go and see what Cincinnati is all about. I only knew that it was in Ohio.”
Greater Cincinnati has been focused for several years on recruiting Israeli companies to the region because of the country’s reputation for innovation. The Regional Economic Development Initiative, known as REDI Cincinnati, has a whole page on its website that touts the benefits of partnerships between Israeli companies and the Tri-State.
At the breakfast meeting, Riezman got an education about all the Fortune 500 companies located here and the potential for his business to grow. “It opened our minds to see and explore and maybe not go to the straightforward solution everybody makes,” he said.
Before long, Riezman and his wife, Liat, had decided to come to Cincinnati to see for themselves. They visited in October 2014. Tammy Riddle, a business development manager with REDI, arranged three days of meetings, tours and dinners with local Jewish families.
“It was a wonderful three days,” Riezman said. “We met with families, businesses, saw the school, saw the Jewish Community Center. It was a warm feeling that I think just on the plane heading back we said, ‘this is a place the kids would enjoy. I could open the U.S. branch and get friends and get the help we need in order to start the business rolling.”
The decision was made. But there were plenty more signs later that the CEMax move to the Cincinnati region was meant to be.
Go to WCPO.com to read more about the important role the Jewish community and the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati played in Riezman’s decision and about his family’s connection to the famous LeBron James selfie taken in October 2015.
