​Sacramento, CA – The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) today announced that Impact Hub Armenia Social Innovation Development Foundation (Impact Hub Yerevan), a nonprofit organization based in Armenia that supports social impact projects and enterprises, and the State of California have entered into an agreement. The agreement establishes a Trade and Services Desk in Yerevan to promote two-way trade and investment and further strengthen California’s economic and cultural relationship with Armenia. California’s trade representative for Europe will use the desk to spur innovation and business growth in and between California and Armenia— with the common goal of creating a sustained, strategic, and mutually-beneficial partnership. The Trade and Services Desk will be run by the State’s point of contact for economic development, in partnership with Impact Hub Yerevan.

Upon signing the MOU, Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to Governor Newsom and GO-Biz’s Director said, “I am proud to sign this important MOU with Impact Hub Yerevan so that we can build on strong, existing ties and create new opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs from both California and Armenia.”

California Senator Anthony Portantino, who authored SB 302 to reestablish trade between California and Armenia and helped foster the California Trade and Services Desk housed at Impact Hub Yerevan said: “I am proud to have worked on the establishment of this trade and services desk at the amazing Impact Hub Yerevan. To know the first such international desk of the Newsom administration is in Yerevan is of particular importance to me and proud Armenian American friends and neighbors across the 25th Senate District. Armenia and California have so much in common.  My hope is that this desk will be a vehicle to highlight and create opportunities and mutual economic benefit.”

California Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, Chair of the California Legislative Armenian Caucus, said: “As the Chair of the California Armenian Legislative Caucus, I am thrilled to celebrate this historic Memorandum of Understanding between Armenia and California, home to the third largest Armenian community in the world. With this trade MOU now in place, I look forward to expanding the trade relations between our two economies.”