San Francisco Mayor is leading a high-level trade delegation to Israel

The trip is primarily intended to build ties between business leaders in the greater Bay Area and Israel
 
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom joined the Jewish Community Federation’s (JCF) trip to Israel taking place April 30–May 8, 2008.
 
The trip, organized by the Federation’s Business Leadership Council (BLC) is primarily intended to build ties between business leaders in the greater Bay Area and Israel and to provide first-hand exposure to Israel’s vast potential for investment, networking, and business partnerships. The trip is scheduled to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Israel’s founding.
 
Mayor Newsom will be joining the trip’s participants with an eye toward fostering greater relationships between local entrepreneurs and business leaders in the high-tech, bio-tech and clean-tech industries, and their counterparts in Israel.
 
Business leaders going on the trip include:
·           James Heeger, President, CEO and Chairman of PayCycle, the leader in on-line payroll for small businesses
·           Rich Freedland, Vice President, Business Development, Laser Research Inc.
·           Denise Aptekar, Director, Risk Management, Paypal
·           Mark Schulman, Owner, CDM Holdings, LLC
·           Richard Seeley, commercial real estate investor
·           Norman Traeger, Partner, The Discovery Group
·           Dr. Ronald Cape, investor, a founder of the biotech industry
·           Sam Lauter, founder and principal of Barnes Mosher Whitehurst Lauter & Partners, a full service public affairs firm
·           Thomas Kasten, former mayor, Hillsborough and current vice chair of the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County
·           John Pritzker, founder, Geolo Capital, focusing on high-growth, consumer focused business investments. Mr. Pritzker is also the President of the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation.