The Oakland County Business Development team has its eyes on Silicon Valley as it heads west this week in an attempt to connect some of Oakland County's 2,000 IT companies with possible collaborations in California.
The team, which represents both Medical Main Street and Tech248, will be in Silicon Valley for five days beginning Saturday to woo various life science and information technology companies and also to attend the Integrate 2015 Conference & Expo in Santa Clara, Calif. The event bills itself as the "world's largest technology conference, expo, and social network that is 100 percent focused on integrating technologies together." Business development representatives Rebecca Wenglinski and Chris Olzem are representing the county.
"Horace Greeley said, 'Go West young man,' and they have over the decades," Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said. "Silicon Valley has a reputation as the high tech and innovation mecca of the United States. Not so fast. We sloths in the Midwest, and particularly in Oakland County, Michigan, have caught up like the tortoise with the hare. This is the place where innovation begins."
The team is meeting with representatives from Apple and Hewlett Packard, among others. Tech248 helps local IT companies and the 79,000 member IT workforce connect with each other while accessing talent, capital and opportunities. Medical Main Street represents a portion of the county's 4,700 health care, medical device and life science businesses.
California is the third important destination for business development representatives in September. Deputy County Executive Matthew Gibb recently returned from Germany where he attended the Frankfurt Auto Show and Alan Weber, a senior business development representative, led a 12-day trade mission to Japan. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder connected with the Oakland County teams in both countries.
Published: Wed, Sep 23, 2015
