Bloomfield Hills’ Michigan Israel Business Accelerator Appoints First CEO

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The Michigan Israel Business Accelerator (MIBA) in Bloomfield Hills today announced it has appointed Sandy Selinger as its first CEO.

The organization leverages collaboration between Michigan and Israel to build technology, industry, and research. It is backed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

“MIBA is the single portal for business-to-business connections between Michigan and Israel,” says Mark Davidoff, chairman of the MIBA board and Michigan managing partner at Deloitte, a large accounting firm in Detroit. “This is a win-win for Michigan, our economy and Israel.”

Selinger has 20 years of experience in leadership roles with international businesses.

“Michigan businesses have unlimited potential to work and collaborate with Israel-based businesses and vice-versa,” says Selinger. “Israel and Michigan have a lot of similarities and overlap in industrial concentrations and will work well in tandem. We’re excited about the possibility of coming together around many areas like mobility, cyber, defense, and even water.

“MIBA is a catalyst focused on the economic betterment of the state of Michigan. We have exciting plans moving forward. Already, we’re leading a delegation to Israel in early May focused on mobility with the American Center for Mobility (in Ypsilanti Township), along with other Michigan companies.”

Selinger has worked with Israeli startups to build and expand their U.S. operations. He was responsible for managing Wix.com’s New York City office, where he built and managed a bi-costal and nationally reaching marketing team to establish and expand Wix’s presence in the U.S. He forged partnerships and co-branding opportunities with companies including Google, Facebook, Constant Contact, Yelp, and Mashable.

Before that, he spearheaded operations and finance at Psyop Inc., where he oversaw growth from four founding members to an international design and production company that won Clio awards, Design Effectiveness Awards, and an Emmy. He was responsible for running the company’s New York, Los Angeles, and London offices, which employed 120 people collectively.

Selinger also served as an operations officer and squad leader of a rescue and evacuation unit for the Israel Defense Force.

Selinger earned a Master of Science from the London School of Economics in 1998 and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1997.

MIBA works with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to elevate the scope and scale of the Michigan-Israel relationship targeting the convergence of technology, industry, and research in sectors including manufacturing, mobility, cyber, defense, water, health and life sciences, and agriculture.