During the week of June 22-26, East Bay EDA was honored to join the California delegation from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) at the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington, D.C. This year marked the 10th annual summit with a record level of participation from over 5,000 attendees from 87 international markets and 56 states and territories. Throughout the 4-day summit, participants were able to take advantage of in-person networking and informative programming on key industry topics affecting the FDI community.
Hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the SelectUSA Investment Summit is the highest profile event in the United States to facilitate business investment by connecting thousands of investors, companies, economic development organizations (EDOs), and industry experts to make deals happen. According to the Select USA website, the 2024 summit included representatives from all 50 states and six U.S. territories. Designed to operate as a one-stop shop for companies considering expanding to the United States, the Investment Summit provides EDOs such as East Bay EDA with the opportunity to meet directly with international companies to facilitate investment deals.
Because the California brand is very strong globally, their booth was quite busy: the more than forty (40) delegates who were there to represent California met with hundreds of innovative companies and entrepreneurs from around the world about how to enter into and/or invest in the California and U.S. markets. East Bay EDA staff who were in attendance listened to numerous presentations and held meetings with people specifically interested in finding connections in the Bay Area, which remains the #1 global startup ecosystem.
Looking ahead, East Bay EDA will be working to help some connect of the companies and investors seeking to enter the Bay Area and East Bay markets with other companies, investors, and other groups and organizations to help continue to grow this important segment of our region’s economy.