Miss. biz team back from Israel

Gov. Phil Bryant declared a Mississippi business development mission to Israel this week as the state’s best trade trip since he’s been governor. Two state business leaders landed mega-orders; and the team met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a 45-minute sit-down discussion. That meeting produced interests from the PM about Ingalls shipbuilding - where HII had built three ships for Israel in the 1990s - and in an electromagnetic rail-gun missile defense system at General Atomics in Shannon, Miss., a suburb of Tupelo. Ten state firms and two research officials from Mississippi State and Southern Miss were on the trip. Those college reps explored research and development opportunities in aerospace and the unmanned systems arenas. (Source: Clarion Ledger, 11/14/14). Central Mississippi Note: Gov. Bryant is planning an “Israel/Mississippi Business Summit” in Jackson in April to bring Israeli companies to the state. USM and MSU reps explored research and development opportunities in aerospace, unmanned systems while in Israel. Stark Aerospace, located in Starkville, is a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, that manufactures and produces drones.