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Clean Energy July 9, 2018

In Holtsville, a crowning clean-gen achievement

By GREGORY ZELLER // Long Island’s food-and-beverage king has completed an ambitious solar installation promising royal benefits – for itself, and for the regional power grid. Along with its partners at New York City-based EnterSolar, major league distributor J. Kings Food Service is celebrating its new 771-kilowatt rooftop solar installation, permanently affixed atop the 44-year-old titan’s Holstville headquarters. The distributor and the circa-2005 energy company were set to commemorate the solar system’s completion with a…

Newsletters June 20, 2018

No. 316: The winds of change blow at SBU, the BeerBox keeps tabs and Keith Hernandez steps up

Wednesday welcome: And a happy midweek to you, dear readers, as we hurtle together through an exciting (and blessedly summerlike) week of socioeconomic innovation. It’s June 20 all over the world. Here in the United States, it’s also American Eagle Day, the 236th anniversary of the date the U.S. Congress selected the bald eagle as our national bird. Now arriving: Before we dive in, a heartfelt welcome to freshly minted newsletter subscribers Jim, Tywana, Gerry,…

Clean Energy May 23, 2018

With 20 MWs (and counting), ‘Solarize’ initiative shines

By GREGORY ZELLER // A New York State program created to fund statewide solar-power initiatives is pumping out dollars and helping to pump up the Empire State’s supply of renewable megawatts. An update issued Wednesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office shows the NY-Sun Solarize Initiative, launched in 2014 and administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, has supported 81 different statewide campaigns through its first three rounds of funding – backing…

Newsletters May 23, 2018

No. 308: Turtles and horses, Disney and The Who, collegiate innovators and Colorforms for grown-ups

Almost there: That long weekend is so close you can taste it, dear readers – but for now it’s only Wednesday, and the midpoint of another busy week in Long Island socioeconomics. It’s May 23 out there – World Tortoise Day, as a matter of fact, an absolutely real event “shellebrating” the efforts of California-based nonprofit American Tortoise Rescue. Tortoise-shell frames would take another 200 years: But it was May 23, 1784, when founding father…

Newsletters May 18, 2018

No. 307: Big Brother beached, commencements classed-up and a big first for Hofstra/Northwell nurses

Nicely done: Kudos, dear reader, on once again rising above the mayhem and reaching the end of another busy work week. It’s May 18 out there – International Museum Day, for those keeping score. War, and remembrance: The then-Kingdom of Great Britain declared war on France on this date in 1756, kicking off the Seven Years War; on the same date in 1803, the United Kingdom declared war on France again, this time ticked off…

Newsletters May 16, 2018

No. 306: On root beer, cleantech, impressive Adelphi grads and The Spur’s summer of love

Welcome to Wednesday: And a very happy May 16 to you, dear readers – together, we’ve reached the midpoint of another busy week in Long Island innovation. By the way, it’s officially the 2018 Navigation Season along the 524-mile New York State Canal System, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo firing the starter’s pistol on Tuesday, or waving the green flag, or opening the gates, or whatever you do at the start of boating season. Popular misconception:…

Newsletters May 4, 2018

No. 303: On Audrey, yummy food photos, NYIT’s Long Island ambitions and May 4 in a galaxy far, far away

That’s a wrap: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, and the end of another busy week for the Long Island innovation economy. It’s May 4 – Memorial Day in Curaçao, Greenery Day in Japan and, here in the States, the 238th anniversary of the American Academy of Arts & Science, founded in Boston on this date in 1780. Charter members included John Adams, Samuel Adams, Samuel Phillips, Phillips Payson, Samuel Williams, Abraham Williams and several men…

Startups April 23, 2018

In the power-conversion business, it’s who you know

By GREGORY ZELLER // A six-year-old power play and its three-year-old sister startup are providing something truly unique on Long Island – a two-headed engineering enterprise with the ability to empower the powerless. That could have many interpretations, but it takes a fairly literal spin at Unique Technical Services, a 2012 launch and member of Stony Brook University’s Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, and Smithtown-based Unique Electric Solutions, that slightly younger sibling. With a…

Clean Energy April 20, 2018

Cuomo doubles down by speeding up emissions effort

By GREGORY ZELLER // Governor Andrew Cuomo is hitting the gas on his ambitious environmental agenda. The governor on Friday announced a dramatic acceleration of his energy-efficiency plans for New York State, including a comprehensive strategy to achieve significant greenhouse gas-emission reductions over the next seven years. Targeting annual efficiencies equivalent to the amount of energy required to power nearly 2 million homes, Cuomo’s revamped plan includes $36.5 million in new state investments that, according…

Awards and Events April 3, 2018

Canon USA earns EPA Energy Star recognition

By GREGORY ZELLER // One of Long Island’s largest private employers has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s nod as a public-health leader. Melville manufacturer Canon USA is one of 163 organizations – including Fortune 500 companies, schools, hospitals, retailers, builders, commercial building owners and others – who will be honored as 2018 Energy Star Partners of the Year. The partners are recognized for outstanding contributions to public health and the environment. One of only…

Newsletters March 30, 2018

No. 294: Hofstra innovators rise, MunchMoney packs a lunch and SUNation’s shifting solar perspective

You’ve done it again: Welcome to Friday, dear reader, and the end of another week of socioeconomic innovation. That’s a lot of Peeps: It’s a holiday weekend, of course, the holiest of Christian holy days and another surefire bonanza for retailers. According to our buddies at Statistic Brain, Americans spend more than $14.6 billion on Easter-related goods each year, including $2.1 billion on Easter candy alone. By the way, although it’s smack-dab in the middle…

Newsletters March 28, 2018

No. 293: Caligula rises, NeuLion roars, Israel energizes, and how a Feinstein researcher discovered a new human organ

Welcome: Howdy and hallelujah, dear readers – it’s March 28 out there, and it is not snowing. Further proof that spring has sprung: Major League Baseball winds up and delivers its 2018 season tomorrow, the earliest Opening Day in MLB history and the first time all 30 teams open on the same day (everyone last opened on the same day in 1968, when there were only 20 Major League teams). Mets host the Cardinals at…

Clean Energy March 27, 2018

NYSERDA, Israeli innovators ink clean-energy pact

By GREGORY ZELLER // A new collaboration between New York State’s advanced-energy gurus and Israel’s top innovation agency will look to speed clean-energy breakthroughs to global markets. Speaking Tuesday at Advanced Energy Conference 2018 in New York City, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Hochul announced a new Memorandum of Understanding between the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the Israel Innovation Authority. The partnership will “accelerate the pace of innovation in the global (clean-energy)…

Clean Energy March 23, 2018

AEC focuses global attention on next-gen generation

By GREGORY ZELLER // The future is imminent for AEC 2018, the Advanced Energy Conference that will unite global energy leaders, researchers and entrepreneurs in New York City on a quest for cleaner and smarter energy solutions. Presented by Stony Brook University’s Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center and a critical mass of major-league sponsors – leading corporations, regional utilities, top research institutions and more – the 10th annual AEC has adopted “The Future of…

Energy March 1, 2018

Busy Chu takes reins at Plainview’s Edgewise Energy

By GREGORY ZELLER // Plainview-based Edgewise Energy has done the C-suite shuffle, with Sammy Chu rising to chief executive officer. Co-founder Chu, formerly chief innovation officer, succeeds co-founder James Emlock, who remains chairman of the Plainview-based energy-systems integrator. Edgewise – which develops and aggregates regional energy projects, creating efficiencies that benefit both the electric grid and commercial customers – has also added two new executives. Dan Kartzman, formerly a senior advisor on market development at…