Ask Me About: joining a global trade mission or using Automation Alley’s soft-landing space
As director of Automation Alley’s International Business Services, Noel’s responsibilities include assisting SMEs become globally competitive by expanding their markets overseas. He identifies countries with a high demand for Michigan-made products, services and technologies and leads trade missions around the world where U.S. companies have an opportunity to meet with potential business partners, including buyer and end users.
Noel is also director of Global Strategic Partnerships where he helps companies bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds while keeping pace with the rapid transformation in manufacturing today (i.e., Industry 4.0). Under Noel’s leadership, Automation Alley received the President's "E Star" Award from Presidents Biden (2021), Obama (2013), and Bush (2008)---the nation’s highest, most prestigious international trade award granted to organizations in recognition of their accomplishments in global trade and economic development. Automation Alley is only the second organization to have received the award three times since created by JFK in 1961. Companies participating in Automation Alley trade missions worldwide have generated $2.238 billion in export sales for company participants while creating 11,225 local jobs.
Noel’s other responsibilities include marketing and promoting Michigan as a diverse high-tech powerhouse and global center of innovation to potential investors worldwide. This has led to forty-two foreign companies setting up their operations in Michigan and generating $425M in foreign direct investment and 1461 high value added, well-paying jobs in our region. As a result of these successes, Automation Alley "best practices" in the areas of international trade and foreign direct investment were ranked among the nation's top ten in a study commissioned by the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
A citizen' of the UK and US, Noel graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan with bachelor’s degrees in economics and Russian Studies. He also received a master’s degree with honors from the London School of Economics in International Relations; and a doctorate in Chinese-Russian studies from the University of Michigan. Nevshehir’s cross-cultural experiences include having worked, studied, lived, and/or traveled to eighty-four countries. Language skills include Russian and conversational Spanish. Noel has been widely published worldwide on issues related to technological innovation and globalization.