April 22, 2008

By Douglas J. Guth Senior Staff Reporter

Beit She’an leaders Lilach Melville, left, 
and Yoram Karin want to attract 500
new families to their region. 

New name, new initiatives in Cleveland’s partnership region.

Cleveland, Ohio, and the Israeli city/region of Beit She’an are now connected in more ways than one, note visiting Israelis Yoram Karin and Lilach Melville.

In 1995, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland chose Beit She’an (both the city and the outer region) as its Partnership 2000 (P2K) city. P2K was created by the Jewish Agency for Israel to build connections between Israeli Jews and the Diaspora.

The program deepened the bond between Cleveland and the Jewish state. Beit She’an is also contending with some of the same problems Northeast Ohio is experiencing: A steady stream of young people leaving for opportunities elsewhere.

This demographic decline brought deputy mayor Karin and regional resource development director Melville stateside last week. The pair met with local Jewish leaders to discuss Beit She’an’s challenges and how Cleveland can help the region meet its objectives. The Israelis also took a side trip to Washington, D.C., to discuss regional initiatives with members of Congress.

The majority of Israel’s population lives in the center of the country, in the “Gedera to Hadera” metropolitan sprawl, notes Karin, who serves on the newly named Spring Valley regional council (formerly the Beit She’an regional council). In recent years, developing peripheral communities like Beit She’an has become a national priority.

The region’s decline has taken place over the last decade, remarks the deputy mayor. Following mandatory army service, many twentysomethings have been leaving the area for the dynamic population and educational centers of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, while others leave for similar opportunities overseas.

While the depopulation itself is relatively slight in terms of numbers, “nobody new is coming in,” says Karin, a Beit She’an Valley native. “People are dying and not getting replaced.”

In reaction to this downward trend, Beit She’an has embarked upon a vigorous marketing campaign to keep young families within the community while also aiming to attract new blood from other parts of Israel and the Diaspora.

“Just like Cleveland is trying to get younger, we have similar goals,” adds Karin, who has served as the valley’s deputy mayor for two years.

Shoring up Beit She’an’s image will be a long process, Karin realizes. One of the first changes was branding; Beit She’an Valley is now known as “The Valley of Springs,” a reflection of the area’s 30 freshwater springs.

Community officials hired a marketing company to “brand” the area, while citizens helped to pick out the name, says Melville. The newly coined valley has a population of about 12,000 living in two dozen kibbutzim and moshavim. Another 17,000 live in the valley’s neighboring city. Situated along Israel’s eastern periphery bordering Jordan, the region is considered one of Israel natural resources.

About 40% of the valley’s rural population works in agriculture, growing wheat and various herbs for all of Israel. Locals also cultivate tilapia in fisheries and raise cows.

Community leaders know that a catchy new name and bucolic surroundings don’t mean much without jobs and other practical resources to attract new families and keep young Israelis within the region.

In response, officials created a nonprofit employment agency to match jobs with people who live in the area. The agency is also helping to create groups for professional training to bring new industries into the valley.

Israel is known for high-tech industry, particularly in the field of health sciences, notes Karin. While the area is better steeped in traditional industries such as plastics, Motorola is planning a new development center north of Beit She’an near the Sea of Galilee that could attract 500 engineering jobs.

Perhaps a better economic bet is an agriculture research center that Beit She’an officials would like to build in conjunction with Jordan. The center is just one of a number of programs Beit She’an has developed with its Arab neighbor, allowing for a “quiet border” that community builders are using as yet another marketing tool to attract families to the valley.

There are also numerous new initiatives for young people: Among them is “Ayalim,” a program involving construction of “student villages” in settlements such as Menachemiya. Students literally build their own community while doing outreach within the surrounding region. The hope, says Melville, is that these young people meet their spouses through the program and settle in the valley.

Cleveland will be part of the overall planning process as Beit She’an tries to get younger, says Cindy Attias, chair of Federation’s P2K subcommittee. Assistance will be both financial and programmatic, and Attias believes the reshaping of the region can be an important lesson for Northeast Ohio.

“Beit She’an is marketing itself superbly,” Attias maintains. “They can teach us how to make Jewish Cleveland more attractive.”

Karin wants to increase the Beit She’an region’s population by 50% over the next decade and add 500 new families over the next five years. An ambitious plan, but “I think it can happen,” he says. “We have so much to offer.”