Bruce Magid, dean of the Brandeis International Business School (IBS) was recently asked to join Governor Deval Patrick on his mission trip. Magid stated he was delighted to be invited.
This was his third time joining Patrick on his business mission trip, following the travel to Israel and the United Kingdom in 2011 and to Latin America in 2012. Magid and Patrick will be visiting Denmark, the United Kingdom and France to help the governor expand opportunities between the Commonwealth and these three European countries on economic development.
According to a release by the governor’s office, there are 34 delegation members. There are only two educational institutional representatives: one being Magid and the other President of Becker College Robert Johnson.
“My expertise on global economics and business and past service on the Massachusetts International Trade Office (MITO) played a role in joining him, in addition to the reputation of IBS as a hub for innovation on a local and global level,” Magid said in an interview with The Hoot.
“Brandeis IBS is constantly looking for ways to support the Commonwealth’s economy,” said Magid about what this trip means to Brandeis. “It could be through developing a robust hiring pool of well-prepared graduate in a number of high-demand fields or contributing to ongoing research in areas such as real estate, transportation, health services and global entrepreneurship.”
In Denmark, he spoke with leaders from two universities interested in partnering with IBS and met with other leaders who can open doors for internship and job opportunities for the business school students. Another potential opportunity that he is pursuing is the potential for a pipeline of future business school applicants to be sponsored by the Danish government.
“Our combination of world-class academic and research institutions, a highly skilled workforce, access to venture capital and commitment to innovation and investing in our infrastructure make Massachusetts a premier destination for business abroad looking to expand the reach and establish a presence in North America,” Magid said.
Currently the Governor and Magid have finished meetings with officials in Denmark and the United Kingdom and will be moving to Lyon and Paris in France. The governor will deliver an address at the Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF) International and Paris Chamber of Commerce’s event in Paris. MEDEF International is France’s largest union of employers.
Dean Magid answered questions about Patrick himself.
“He shows a keen understanding of the issues and when our counterpart in countries mention a road block to conducting business in Massachusetts,” said Magid. “He turns to one of his senior advisor and asks them to identify a solution. This ‘can-do’ attitude is hugely impressive to encouraging the foreign heads of industry to consider doing business in Massachusetts.”
