David J. Allon, MBA, President, Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New Leadership at Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce Sets Ambitious Business Agenda
PHILADELPHIA (December 2)—“There’s no better time to be doing business with Israel,” said David J. Allon, in-coming president of the venerable Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. Allon, a Financial Consultant with Citizens Securities and more than 20 year veteran of the Chamber was elected this week to take over the reigns from Richard A. Bendit, a senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Berkadia Commercial Mortgage.
“From hospitals and universities to major corporations and small businesses, the Greater Philadelphia Region is seeing unprecedented cooperation with Israel,” said Allon. “Israel is a hotbed of investment and venture capital activity across industries from clean-tech to defense, from medical technologies to electronics.”
Concurrent with Allon’s election as President, the Philadelphia-Israel Chamber announced the appointment of its new Executive Committee of the Board of Directors.
President David Allon will be supported by Vice Presidents: Neil Cooper, Esq., Partner at Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld; Richard M. Fox, Managing Partner at Start-up Nation (S.U.N.) Capital; Steven L. Friedman, Esq., Partner at Duane Morris; and Alice Solomon, Director Business Development at FIRSTCALL.
Matthew Fingerman, Associate Wealth Manager at Bank of New York Mellon Wealth Management will serve as Treasurer, and Howard H. Joffe, Esq., President of Best Evidence Executive Communications Counsel—and Past President of PICC—will serve in the role of Secretary.
Immediate Past President Richard Bendit, will continue to serve on the committee along with Beth Cohen, Esq., Director of Global Emerging Growth Services at Greenberg Traurig, LLP, and Vered Nohi, PICC’s Executive Director who said, “The Chamber’s new leadership team represents a deep reservoir of talent, experience, expertise, and energy.”
Allon added, “Our work is strengthening commercial and research ties between Israel and the Greater Philadelphia region and extending Israel’s extraordinary advances in science to a range of industries here.”
With the Chamber’s help during Bendit’s term, Philadelphia Mayor Michael J. Nutter led two trade missions to Israel. Allon vowed “to do everything we can to help regional leaders champion trade missions to Israel and ensure that it will be successful and provide positive economic impact to the region.”
The Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce’s new leadership team officially takes office December 1.
Click to view pictures from the Open House when the new leadership was introduced. Thank you for Eazdan Jeeshan for taking the photos.
About the Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce
The Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (PICC) is the go-to independent organization facilitating connections between Israeli and Philadelphia, Southern New Jersey and Delaware based businesses, governmental agencies and economic development organizations.
The PICC also represents the US-Israel Binational Industrial R&D (BIRD) Foundation and BIRD Energy, which annually award 20-30 grants up to $1 million to U.S.-Israeli company technology ventures.