A new study shows that it’s profitable to do business with Israeli companies. More than 200 companies with connections to Israel contributed $6.2 billion to the Massachusetts economy last year, reports a study conducted by the consulting firm Stax and supported by Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston.
“Massachusetts has become a home away from home for Israel’s innovation economy,” Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick was quoted as saying by JTA.
The study says the businesses range from information technology to life sciences and software. The companies employed more than 6,600 people in 2012.
Israeli entrepreneurs said they were attracted to Massachusetts thanks to its high concentration of top tier academic and research institutions, a highly-educated workforce, access to venture capital and concentration of high-technology industries. The study showed that nearly one-third of the Israeli-founded companies were started by Israeli alumni of Massachusetts colleges.