Jose Ignacio Gonzalez 56, born in Louisville, KY and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, is the Chief Executive Officer of Hemisphere Trade Services, Inc. (HTS) and President, COO of MAPA GROUP. These companies are unique business development firms dedicated to identifying and enhancing trade and investment opportunities for its clients and partners in the fields of renewable energy and environmental, airports and aeronautics, logistics and trade and government relations in economic development.
Mr. González served until December 2006 as the Executive Director of Hemisphere, Inc., a non-profit, public-private partnership formed by the state of Georgia, city of Atlanta, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Atlanta Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the Georgia Department of Economic Development. He was appointed in August 2003 by Governor Perdue to lead the campaign to attract the permanent Secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas to the State of Georgia.