Shock and thaw: It’s Wednesday already, intrepid innovators, as we hustle through another busy – and blessedly warmer – week of socioeconomic innovation.
Another round: Support your server on National Bartender Day.
We’ll drink to that: Businesses are slowly reopening across Long Island and the rest of the nation, and that’s a very good thing – today, we raise a glass today to one of the pandemic’s hardest-hit professional workforces, on World Bartender Day.
And surely we can make that work with National Tortilla Chip Day, celebrated domestically this and every Feb. 24.
Damn fine coffee: For the indoctrinated, today is also Twin Peaks Day – referencing Feb. 24, 1989, the date FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper first arrived in the fictitious town of Twin Peaks, WA.
It’s a date: Pope Gregory XIII issued the proclamation that would create the Gregorian Calendar – still the astronomical chart of record for the majority of humanity – on this date in 1582.
For those keeping score, only Afghanistan, Iran, Ethiopia and Nepal currently eschew the Gregorian Calendar (though Japan, North Korea, Thailand and Taiwan do use their own modified versions).
What a tease: Classic Darwin, rated G.
Oh, behave! Not nearly as naughty as it sounds, Charles Darwin’s “The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex” was first published in London on Feb. 24, 1871.
Seeing the light: Speaking of hot stuff, two days before he officially “discovered radioactivity,” French physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel reported some very interesting evidence to the Académie des Sciences on Feb. 24, 1896.
Right at the top: glowing uranium salts that left faint impressions on photographic plates.
Fields of dreams: The Fields medal, a high honor frequently referenced as “the Nobel Prize of mathematics,” was established on this date in 1931 by Canadian-American whiz John Charles Field.
Not-quite-final frontier: And hitting an unprecedented altitude of 244 miles, the first American rocket to reach space – a modified German V-2 ballistic missile – blasted off from New Mexico on Feb. 24, 1949.
The rocket easily cleared the roughly 62-mile-high Kármán line, established by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale as the dividing line between the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.
Jobs: Apple core.
Grimm and bear it: German author Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859) – whose “Grimms’ Fairy Tales” (written with his brother Jacob and featuring the likes of Cinderella and Snow White) were horror stories, not the cartoonish romances of modern lore – would be 235 years old today.
Also born on Feb. 24 were industrious British engineer Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729), who invented the world’s first steam-driven water pump; way-ahead-of-his time French robotics pioneer Jacques de Vaucanson (1709-1782); British church organist-turned-composer Samuel Wesley (1766-1837), often referenced as “the English Mozart”; landscape painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910), arguably America’s greatest 19th century painter; and no-further-introduction-needed Apple founder Steve Jobs (1955-2011).
Changing channels: And take a bow, American journalist Paula Ann Zahn! The Dowling College graduate, accomplished cellist and newscaster-turned-producer – who has anchored desks for ABC, CBS, Fox News and CNN, and now hosts true-crime documentaries on the Discovery Channel – turns 65 today.
Give the 21st century storyteller, the 19th century storyteller and all the other Feb. 24 innovators your best at editor@innovateli.com, where sharing your innovation news and calendar event is no fairy tale – it’s just what we do.
About our sponsor: The Long Island Business Development Council has helped build the regional economy for more than 50 years by bringing together government economic–development officials, developers, financial experts and others for education, debate and networking.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Molloy means business: The Molloy College Business Program has earned first-time specialized accreditation from the International Accreditation Council for Business Education – an “important accomplishment” for the Rockville Centre college and its School of Business, noted Molloy College President James Lentini.
The IACBE accredits business programs ending in associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral-level degrees at institutions around the world. Accreditation assures the school provides the highest principles in academic administration and best practices in business education – and in the case of Molloy College, “external validation and confirmation of the quality education provided by Molloy’s School of Business and its faculty,” according to Lentini.
“Accreditation by the IACBE confirms the strength, depth and dynamic nature of Molloy’s Business programs,” agreed Gioia Bales, dean of the Molloy College School of Business. “Both our School of Business graduates and their employers will benefit from this external quality assurance.”
Julie Allegretti: Event horizon.
Media-oric rise: From the Department of Silver Linings comes the Port Jefferson-based Social Media Association, a multiplatform business-networking effort that logged considerable growth at the height of the pandemic.
Coexisting on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, the circa-2010 SMA enjoyed “exponential membership growth” in 2020, including a 33 percent spike in overall membership and a 100 percent increase in out-of-state subscribers – now hailing from 16 states and “showcas[ing] the reach SMA has throughout the country,” according to Copresident Peter Stein, who trumpeted “quality monthly programming” including online, paid-attendance educational and social events.
The pandemic shift to virtual programming, in fact, helped the SMA grow membership “in a way that was not feasible with in-person events only,” according to the Port Jefferson association. “SMA’s membership initiatives are a priority for 2021 and more initiatives involving video and social media are in the works for this year,” noted Copresident Julie Allegretti. “We expect to further grow membership and add to the already impressive SMA membership base going forward.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Invaders from Earth: Three different human missions arrived at Mars last week, including NASA’s Mars 2020 – made possible, in part, by Stony Brook University.
This time, it’s personal: A Personal Distance Monitor designed for autistic students – and maybe ideal for the pandemic – is gaining national attention for its young inventors.
Innovation in the Age of Coronavirus: Albany is amending its guidance for nursing homes, college campuses, pool halls and movie theaters – keep up with Long Island’s one-and-only pandemic primer, still going strong.
VOICES
Food-and-beverage boss Kate Fullam crosses the frozen tundra of Quogue to learn the truth about the East End’s innovative history with commercial ice.
Kate’s latest adds a real chill factor to our amazing Voices library, a bubbling cauldron of experience and insight from across the Long Island innovation economy. Smarten up right now!
STUFF WE’RE READING
Talking it up: Strong leaders know there’s no such thing as overcommunication. Fast Co. reinforces.
Eating it up: Nestlé’s CEO senses a once-per-generation opportunity in plant-based innovation. Food Navigator bites.
Picking it up: Flying drones can select the ripest fruit and even prevent food waste. The World Economic Forum buzzes.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Dandelion Energy, a New York City-based home geothermal company, closed a $30 million Series B funding round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, GV, NEA, Lennar Corporation, Collaborative Fund, Building Ventures, Catchlight Ventures and GroundUp.
+ ABclonal Biotechnology, a Massachusetts-based global provider of life-science tools and services, completed its $92.9 million Series C financing led by Sequoia Capital China and LYFE Capital, with participation from Sigma Square Capital, Kinghall Ventures and Lucion Capital.
+ Photomath, a California-based provider of a math-learning app/digital tutor, secured $23 million in Series B funding led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from GSV Ventures, Learn Capital, Cherubic Ventures and Goodwater Capital.
+ Axiom Space, a Texas-based aerospace manufacturer developing a commercial space station, raised $130 million in Series B funding led by C5 Capital, TQS Advisors, Declaration Partners, Moelis Dynasty Investments, Washington University (St. Louis), the Venture Collective, Aidenlair Capital, Hemisphere Ventures and Starbridge Venture Capital.
+ Rheaply, an Illinois-based climate-tech company combining resource-sharing and asset management, raised $8 million in a Series A funding led by High Alpha, with participation from 100 Black Angels & Allies Fund, Concrete Rose Capital, Hyde Park Angels, M25, MCJ Collective, Morgan Stanley Multicultural Innovation Lab, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and Salesforce Ventures.
+ Pawlicy Advisor, a NYC-based pet insurance marketplace, raised $6.5 million in Series A funding led by Rho Capital Partners and Defy Partners, with participation from Slow Ventures.
BELOW THE FOLD (Life After COVID Edition)
Flesh and board: Real, live fans will soon be rooting on the Mets (though not Cespedes).
V-I-R-T-U-A-L: The Scripps National Spelling Bee will return, but not like before.
Get your tickets now: Dr. Fauci is cautiously optimistic that baseball attendance will slowly rise this season.
Normal schedule: Expect an exciting summer – and another cautious winter – before life finally returns to normal.
Standing by: Before, during and after the pandemic, there was, is and will be the Long Island Business Development Council, half-century guardian of regional socioeconomics and one of the amazing organizations that support Innovate LI. Check them out.
