November 18, 2024 • 10 mins
WE'VE GOT A NEW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE And I'm talking to Jeremiah Baronberg about the New Colorado-Israeli Chamber of Commerce and what they hope to accomplish. There is a big kickoff event you can be a part of, find it here.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
He is the US side of the team that has
created the brand new Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce. Jeremiah
Behrenberg is here in Denver and his business partner is
where Jeremiah.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
In Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
So you got one foot there, one foot here, different
pockets at the same pair of pants. Tell me a
little bit about the Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Well, thank you, Manny, and thank you for having me
on the show. It's great to be here. You know,
I helped co found the Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce
earlier this year to serve as a business bridge between
Colorado's thriving industries and Israel's world renowned innovation ecosystem. And
I did it together, as you mentioned, with my business
partner now, Jordan Kastrinski, who's a fellow Colorado from Denver
(00:44):
who moved to Israel about ten years ago and lives
in Tel Aviv. And he and his team are deeply
connected across Israel's high tech venture capital and startup ecosystem.
And that's part of one of the value add that
we see as our organization playing to be that business
bridge between Colorado and Israel.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Why now, what sparked this particular move right now.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Well, I'll tell you.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
You know, there was a Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce
back in the early two thousands, you know, and that
was before many of the amazing innovations that we've seen
take place over the last twenty years.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
And frankly, there are other.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Sort of similar style Israel Chambers of Commerce in other
states across the country. And the question is why. The
reason is is that each of those states has identified
incredible opportunities that Israeli innovation can bring to their state's
economies in terms of jobs, in terms of innovation, and
in terms of economic growth. So to answer your question
(01:41):
why now, Well, because we don't have one, and because
we see such potential. We also know that there is
already great trade and commerce going on between Colorado and Israel.
And you know, I'm from Denver, I grew up here,
and I love Colorado. I lived on the East Coast
for too long, and I moved back here during COVID,
and I was so excited to get back. What I
found was a thriving international sort of relations, international business,
(02:05):
international activity environment going on, and I immediately got plugged
into that. And you know, there are other chambers of commerce,
like the Germans have one, the Swedes, the French, the Japanese,
and jill So there's a great operating environment here, great
excitement for international growth, and not just Denver as a
global city, but Colorado as a state connected internationally. And
(02:27):
that is truly our aim to be a chamber of
commerce for the whole state front range, western slope, north
and south.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
This is not just a big city initiative.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
And so it's been very exciting this past year connecting
with stakeholders and players around the state.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
And everyone's been uniformly excited about it.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well, there's you mentioned that there's a lot of business
going on currently. Where are the natural partnerships do you see?
Where are the industries or techno knowlogies or innovations that
you see are kind of like a natural fit for
Colorado and Israel.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Well, and that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
And when Arden and I sat down to map out
our sort of business plan, you know, we were inspired
by some of the leading sectors that Colorado is at
the forefront of and we saw that so many of
those sectors had their counterparts in Israel set up in
the same way, and so we saw those synergies and
what we landed on were essentially four to six areas
(03:22):
that we see as really ripe.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Now. The first, which I'm really excited about, is water.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
We know that Colorado has its water stresses, its water
scarcity issues, both from usage and savings. And you know,
when it comes to water, there is no country in
the world that's better than Israel because they're also water
scarce because they're semi arid, and they've they've you know,
they've they've been at the forefront of these activities and
(03:50):
they engage internationally. So we're working with Israel's National Water
Utility and their water technology Innovation network. So I think
that's one area, and we've been told by many stakeholders
here that that's a key area that can help Colorado
in certain ways.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I will tell you when I when I went to Israel,
one of the things that was so shocking to me
was how much produce is created in a desert.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
I mean, you'll be driving through a desert. It's not
it's I don't know what people think Israel looks like,
but most of it is just like hard scrabbled desert
with a few bushes and rocks here and there. I mean,
it's it's not a lot to look at, but then
all of a sudden you'll see rose and rose of
greenhouses and you're thinking, they're growing so much produce in
the middle of a desert and doing it without using
a lot of water. It's pretty impressive that I saw,
(04:36):
you know, I see that kind of stuff, and I'm like,
first of all, California needs to be working with Israel
on desalinization. Like there's so many opportunities for water and
farming and things of that nature. So what else do
you have for me?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yeah, Well, and just to piggyback on that absolutely, I
mean Israel and that died the you know, the cherry tomato,
but also drip irrigation, and we recently found out that
there's an Israeli drip irrigation company already here working on
the western slope helping Colorado farmers save water by reducing
their use through drip irrigation in a zero carbon gravity
(05:07):
gravity lad way. So beyond water and also related to
sort of agriculture, we're looking at.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Bioscience.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
You know, Colorado has recently been is a governor polist
led initiative to position Colorado as the leading biotech capital
of the country to attract companies from California and Boston
and you know, the MIT sector to come to Colorado
because of so many reasons, our talented workforce are availability
of lab space and so that's actually a Governor of
(05:38):
state led campaign to brand Colorado as a bioscience capital.
So we're going to do that for essentially the Israeli
biotech community to say hey, if you're coming to Colorado,
we're coming to the US, check out Colorado. So beyond that,
we're also looking at aerospace and space tech. You know,
Colorado is obviously number two in the country when it
comes to aerospace and space tech, and that's you know,
it's it's everything from you know, laws to satellites to
(06:02):
you know, technology and cameras in space.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
And then we also have energy.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Quantum is obviously a major push here in Colorado, cybersecurity
and and energy.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So there's a lot of sectors. It's a lot to cover.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yeah, we have to be thoughtful about how we go
about this, but it's exciting to see the interest.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Who do you want to join the Israeli or Colorado
israel Chamber of Commerce. Who is this open to? Who
would you like to see coving to be a member
and how can they do that?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Absolutely? And you know we are a membership organization. That's
how we envision this. You know, I don't want this
to be sort of Jeremiah and George and sort of
leading it. We want the participation of the community. We
want members, we want partners, and.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Frankly, that's what I've spent a lot of my efforts
this past year doing.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
It's is engaging with partner organizations, but also reaching out
to companies and members. So we envision membership being well
from those sectors that I just mentioned. We want companies
in those sectors, ranging from small and medium to larger companies,
to take a role and play a role because what
we can A lot of people will say, what are
(07:07):
you going to do because sometimes like you know, Chamber
of Commerce, well, they all do it in their own way.
But we want to do more than just be an
education platform, which we do want to be that. We
want to showcase the best of Israeli technology for Colorado,
and we want to showcase Colorado in Israel as well.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
But secondly, what we want to do is be a connector.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
We want to play the role of helping Colorado companies
identify and create partnerships with their Israeli counterparts in ways
that can benefit them.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
So that's a lot of actual boots.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
On the groundwork, and that's why Jordan and his team
in Israel are so critical to this effort. But we
also see sort of downstream professional services firms being important here.
I mean, you know, I work closely with the Denver
Office of Economic Development and Opportunity DdO.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
I'm going to shout out right now to Stephanie Garnika.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
You know, she's leading the way for making Denver such
a great attractive place. And Israeli companies have come to
call and set up shop. So they set up shop,
they buy some real estate or rent office space, they
hire Colorado workers, and so there's a whole downstream benefit
to service providers here that want to be part of
our community to help kind of make Colorado a welcoming
(08:15):
place for Israeli companies to come here and get settled.
And so there's a lot of ways to get involved,
and yeah, check out our website at Colorado Israel dot
org or send us an email at info at Colorado
Israel dot org.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I also put on the blog today, there's a big
kickoff event. Can people come to the kickoff event to
learn more? Because they put a link to that on
the blog today.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Absolutely, that would be great.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
We'd welcome that, you know, send us you can, you
can put the link there or send us a message
for more information.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
You know, we are inviting.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
We hope to have a speak if the governor actually
address the event in some shape or form another.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
The you know, it's not just we have the Denver
mayor kind of teed.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Up and maybe Aurora mayor as well, and you know,
we want to have voices from across the state as well,
and that's a that's a process. We'll also have speakers
from an Israeli company that's based here in Colorado and
a Colorado investment firm that invests in Israel.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
And that's actually a very interesting aspect.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
There are four investment firms here in Colora that invest
in Israel, both in the Tel Aviv stock exchange and
also in the VC sort of startup space. But you know,
we also want it to be a fun networking event
because like not just like talking of people.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
We want people to be engaged.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
We want them to find value in being part of
the community.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Well, to wrap up, we've got Jeremiah Behenberg is with
the Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce. The event we're talking
about is Tuesday, December third, from five to six thirty
and it is going to be at Hogan's Level downtown.
You can find all that information get your ticket at
the blog today. I got it all there, and you
can also find out more about the organization. I think
(09:49):
this is a great organization, Jeremiah, and I hope that
you and your partner have phenomenal success and bridge some
gaps and help, you know, create more lines of communication,
because that's really what's going to save us all in
the long run. I very much appreciate your time today.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Thank you very much. Man, it's great to be here.
He is the US side of the team that has
created the brand new Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce. Jeremiah
Behrenberg is here in Denver and his business partner is
where Jeremiah.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
In Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
So you got one foot there, one foot here, different
pockets at the same pair of pants. Tell me a
little bit about the Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Well, thank you, Manny, and thank you for having me
on the show. It's great to be here. You know,
I helped co found the Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce
earlier this year to serve as a business bridge between
Colorado's thriving industries and Israel's world renowned innovation ecosystem. And
I did it together, as you mentioned, with my business
partner now, Jordan Kastrinski, who's a fellow Colorado from Denver
(00:44):
who moved to Israel about ten years ago and lives
in Tel Aviv. And he and his team are deeply
connected across Israel's high tech venture capital and startup ecosystem.
And that's part of one of the value add that
we see as our organization playing to be that business
bridge between Colorado and Israel.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Why now, what sparked this particular move right now.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Well, I'll tell you.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
You know, there was a Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce
back in the early two thousands, you know, and that
was before many of the amazing innovations that we've seen
take place over the last twenty years.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
And frankly, there are other.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Sort of similar style Israel Chambers of Commerce in other
states across the country. And the question is why. The
reason is is that each of those states has identified
incredible opportunities that Israeli innovation can bring to their state's
economies in terms of jobs, in terms of innovation, and
in terms of economic growth. So to answer your question
(01:41):
why now, Well, because we don't have one, and because
we see such potential. We also know that there is
already great trade and commerce going on between Colorado and Israel.
And you know, I'm from Denver, I grew up here,
and I love Colorado. I lived on the East Coast
for too long, and I moved back here during COVID,
and I was so excited to get back. What I
found was a thriving international sort of relations, international business,
(02:05):
international activity environment going on, and I immediately got plugged
into that. And you know, there are other chambers of commerce,
like the Germans have one, the Swedes, the French, the Japanese,
and jill So there's a great operating environment here, great
excitement for international growth, and not just Denver as a
global city, but Colorado as a state connected internationally. And
(02:27):
that is truly our aim to be a chamber of
commerce for the whole state front range, western slope, north
and south.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
This is not just a big city initiative.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
And so it's been very exciting this past year connecting
with stakeholders and players around the state.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
And everyone's been uniformly excited about it.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well, there's you mentioned that there's a lot of business
going on currently. Where are the natural partnerships do you see?
Where are the industries or techno knowlogies or innovations that
you see are kind of like a natural fit for
Colorado and Israel.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Well, and that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
And when Arden and I sat down to map out
our sort of business plan, you know, we were inspired
by some of the leading sectors that Colorado is at
the forefront of and we saw that so many of
those sectors had their counterparts in Israel set up in
the same way, and so we saw those synergies and
what we landed on were essentially four to six areas
(03:22):
that we see as really ripe.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Now. The first, which I'm really excited about, is water.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
We know that Colorado has its water stresses, its water
scarcity issues, both from usage and savings. And you know,
when it comes to water, there is no country in
the world that's better than Israel because they're also water
scarce because they're semi arid, and they've they've you know,
they've they've been at the forefront of these activities and
(03:50):
they engage internationally. So we're working with Israel's National Water
Utility and their water technology Innovation network. So I think
that's one area, and we've been told by many stakeholders
here that that's a key area that can help Colorado
in certain ways.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I will tell you when I when I went to Israel,
one of the things that was so shocking to me
was how much produce is created in a desert.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
I mean, you'll be driving through a desert. It's not
it's I don't know what people think Israel looks like,
but most of it is just like hard scrabbled desert
with a few bushes and rocks here and there. I mean,
it's it's not a lot to look at, but then
all of a sudden you'll see rose and rose of
greenhouses and you're thinking, they're growing so much produce in
the middle of a desert and doing it without using
a lot of water. It's pretty impressive that I saw,
(04:36):
you know, I see that kind of stuff, and I'm like,
first of all, California needs to be working with Israel
on desalinization. Like there's so many opportunities for water and
farming and things of that nature. So what else do
you have for me?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yeah, Well, and just to piggyback on that absolutely, I
mean Israel and that died the you know, the cherry tomato,
but also drip irrigation, and we recently found out that
there's an Israeli drip irrigation company already here working on
the western slope helping Colorado farmers save water by reducing
their use through drip irrigation in a zero carbon gravity
(05:07):
gravity lad way. So beyond water and also related to
sort of agriculture, we're looking at.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Bioscience.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
You know, Colorado has recently been is a governor polist
led initiative to position Colorado as the leading biotech capital
of the country to attract companies from California and Boston
and you know, the MIT sector to come to Colorado
because of so many reasons, our talented workforce are availability
of lab space and so that's actually a Governor of
(05:38):
state led campaign to brand Colorado as a bioscience capital.
So we're going to do that for essentially the Israeli
biotech community to say hey, if you're coming to Colorado,
we're coming to the US, check out Colorado. So beyond that,
we're also looking at aerospace and space tech. You know,
Colorado is obviously number two in the country when it
comes to aerospace and space tech, and that's you know,
it's it's everything from you know, laws to satellites to
(06:02):
you know, technology and cameras in space.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
And then we also have energy.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Quantum is obviously a major push here in Colorado, cybersecurity
and and energy.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So there's a lot of sectors. It's a lot to cover.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yeah, we have to be thoughtful about how we go
about this, but it's exciting to see the interest.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Who do you want to join the Israeli or Colorado
israel Chamber of Commerce. Who is this open to? Who
would you like to see coving to be a member
and how can they do that?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Absolutely? And you know we are a membership organization. That's
how we envision this. You know, I don't want this
to be sort of Jeremiah and George and sort of
leading it. We want the participation of the community. We
want members, we want partners, and.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Frankly, that's what I've spent a lot of my efforts
this past year doing.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
It's is engaging with partner organizations, but also reaching out
to companies and members. So we envision membership being well
from those sectors that I just mentioned. We want companies
in those sectors, ranging from small and medium to larger companies,
to take a role and play a role because what
we can A lot of people will say, what are
(07:07):
you going to do because sometimes like you know, Chamber
of Commerce, well, they all do it in their own way.
But we want to do more than just be an
education platform, which we do want to be that. We
want to showcase the best of Israeli technology for Colorado,
and we want to showcase Colorado in Israel as well.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
But secondly, what we want to do is be a connector.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
We want to play the role of helping Colorado companies
identify and create partnerships with their Israeli counterparts in ways
that can benefit them.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
So that's a lot of actual boots.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
On the groundwork, and that's why Jordan and his team
in Israel are so critical to this effort. But we
also see sort of downstream professional services firms being important here.
I mean, you know, I work closely with the Denver
Office of Economic Development and Opportunity DdO.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
I'm going to shout out right now to Stephanie Garnika.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
You know, she's leading the way for making Denver such
a great attractive place. And Israeli companies have come to
call and set up shop. So they set up shop,
they buy some real estate or rent office space, they
hire Colorado workers, and so there's a whole downstream benefit
to service providers here that want to be part of
our community to help kind of make Colorado a welcoming
(08:15):
place for Israeli companies to come here and get settled.
And so there's a lot of ways to get involved,
and yeah, check out our website at Colorado Israel dot
org or send us an email at info at Colorado
Israel dot org.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I also put on the blog today, there's a big
kickoff event. Can people come to the kickoff event to
learn more? Because they put a link to that on
the blog today.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Absolutely, that would be great.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
We'd welcome that, you know, send us you can, you
can put the link there or send us a message
for more information.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
You know, we are inviting.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
We hope to have a speak if the governor actually
address the event in some shape or form another.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
The you know, it's not just we have the Denver
mayor kind of teed.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Up and maybe Aurora mayor as well, and you know,
we want to have voices from across the state as well,
and that's a that's a process. We'll also have speakers
from an Israeli company that's based here in Colorado and
a Colorado investment firm that invests in Israel.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
And that's actually a very interesting aspect.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
There are four investment firms here in Colora that invest
in Israel, both in the Tel Aviv stock exchange and
also in the VC sort of startup space. But you know,
we also want it to be a fun networking event
because like not just like talking of people.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
We want people to be engaged.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
We want them to find value in being part of
the community.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Well, to wrap up, we've got Jeremiah Behenberg is with
the Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce. The event we're talking
about is Tuesday, December third, from five to six thirty
and it is going to be at Hogan's Level downtown.
You can find all that information get your ticket at
the blog today. I got it all there, and you
can also find out more about the organization. I think
(09:49):
this is a great organization, Jeremiah, and I hope that
you and your partner have phenomenal success and bridge some
gaps and help, you know, create more lines of communication,
because that's really what's going to save us all in
the long run. I very much appreciate your time today.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Thank you very much. Man, it's great to be here.
The Mandy Connell Podcast News
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com