From the second floor of his new office, entrepreneur Randy Schulz can gaze across the Delaware River; past the decommissioned Navy vessels and utility trucks of South Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, past the struggles of a local Philadelphia economy, all the way around the world to another economy in need of jobs, innovation and national unity. Schulz and partner Brett Goldman founded the American Israel Business Lab with the stated goal of helping Israeli firms found cleantech businesses here in the US, turn their innovations into profits and even bring jobs to the U.S.
The AIBL looks at Israel as a world leader in cleantech innovation. With wind farms, solar facilities, biofuel manufacturers and other national and local programs, Israel has a diverse energy portfolio. But even more varied than their energy industry is the young crop of entrepreneurs looking to make energy the global cause of a generation. AIBL wants to help.
“This is an opportunity for the Philadelphia region to position itself on a global stage and emerge as a center for clean technology,” Schulz told the Jewish Exponent newsletter. “We are essentially privatizing the business attraction function. It’s a good place to be, right now, in the private sector. It’s an emerging market.”
The AIBL’s opening gala gathered several cleantech entrepreneurs from England, Israel and the US to discuss issues from working with unions to finding investment capital. Solar States was there along with members of Oak Energy Partners and members of designer Marc Ecko’s Artists and Instigators Project.
As friends of Solar States, Schulz and Goldman visited the Crane Arts Building solar array in April and we spoke about the future of cleantech business ventures in Philadelphia. We wish them the very best on their new venture and hope to share many long gazes into the future with them, whether they are from a slip in South Philly or a rooftop in West Kensington.
