FRAMINGHAM, Mass. & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Andy Norman, COO of GlassHouse Technologies, a global provider of independent data center consulting and managed services, will join Governor Deval Patrick along with a coalition of state officials and business leaders on the Massachusetts Innovation Economy Partnership Mission 2011 to the United Kingdom this week. The coalition will explore growth opportunities within the Commonwealth’s innovation-based industries – technology, life sciences, clean energy and financial services – and areas of common interest between the state’s established and emerging partners in the UK.
“I’m happy to have Andy Norman of GlassHouse Technologies joining our great coalition of leaders on this trade mission,” said Governor Patrick. “Norman is at the forefront of our innovation economy, and we know his expertise will go a long way towards forging lasting economic ties and partnerships between Massachusetts and the UK.”
As a leader in the IT industry, Norman will further the mission’s goals of identifying new job and economic development opportunities. During the trip, Norman will take part in roundtables, company visits and meetings with government and business officials with Governor Patrick and the delegation in London and Cambridge.
“I’m honored to be joining the Governor and the rest of the delegation on this trade mission,” said Norman. “I believe this is an important opportunity for our Commonwealth to explore new growth opportunities and business relationships in the global market.”
The Massachusetts delegation arrived in Israel on March 7th, and will depart the United Kingdom on March 17th to return to Boston.
Today there are nearly 100 companies with Israeli founders or Israeli-licensed technologies in Massachusetts. In 2009, these companies employed nearly 6,000 people and generated $2.4 billion in direct revenue for the state. Local firms exported over $180 million worth of goods to Israel in 2009 and, at 12.35 percent, the United States is Israel’s largest source of imports.
There are currently 478 companies with UK-ties in Massachusetts. Of these, 225 UK-owned companies in the state employ 40,100 Massachusetts residents. Additionally, 253 Commonwealth-based companies have established operations in the UK. Massachusetts companies exported over $4 billion worth of goods to the UK in 2009 and the United States is the UK’s second largest source of imports at 9.74 percent. For two years in a row, the UK has been the largest market for Massachusetts exports.
Please visit www.mass.gov/governor/innovationmission for more information and regular updates about the trip. In addition, Norman will be chronicling the innovation mission through multiple blog posts and tweets on activities, the impact of meetings, general impressions and much more. To follow Norman’s experience and to read about GlassHouse CEO Mark Shirman’s travel’s to Israel, please visit the GlassHouse blog at http://www.glasshouse.com/resources/blog and the GlassHouse Twitter handle at http://twitter.com/#!/glasshouse_tech.
About GlassHouse
GlassHouse Technologies is a global provider of data center infrastructure consulting services. In a rapidly changing data center environment, GlassHouse partners with customers to define a strategy, execute that plan and operate their environment. Our constant focus is on cost efficiency, risk mitigation and service improvement. This is provided through Transom, our unique business model comprised of proprietary software tools, methodologies and domain expertise. We help deliver on the promise of agility and usage-based spending in the next generation infrastructure paradigm. This journey is significant and requires an experienced and pragmatic guide to help you achieve your goals. Our experience is based on thousands of projects in addition to ongoing daily operations of customer environments. Visit the GlassHouse blog for expert commentary on key data center issues facing today's enterprises and follow us on twitter @GlassHouse_Tech.