Sweat talker: Welcome to Friday, friends, as we wrap up another sweaty workweek and queue up another no-sweat weekend.
Before we cool down, just one more day of inspiration and perspiration – with a touch of innovation to start it right.
The old Jan Brady: Stuck in the middle with you.
The children shall lead: It’s Aug. 12 out there, known best as the UN’s International Youth Day, when the health and rights of future generations hold sway.
Speaking of children, let’s hear it for Jan Brady and everyone else with both older and younger siblings – it’s National Middle Child Day, betwixt and between every Aug. 12.
Loaded trunk: And never forget – today is also World Elephant Day.
Stitch in time: Other things worth remembering on this date include New York City inventor Isaac Singer and his first practical sewing machine, patented on Aug. 12, 1851.
Singer, who earned a dozen more patents related to his automated stitchers, would eventually launch the Singer Sewing Machine Co., which would become the first U.S.-based multinational business.
Wheels up: Other iconic American enterprises associated with this date include the Ford Motor Co., which rolled the first Model T off a Detroit assembly line 114 years ago today.
Touchdown: Enterprise completes its “free-flight” test.
Glide path: Other iconic vehicles associated with this date include the Space Shuttle Enterprise, which made its first free-flight approach and landing – after jettisoning from a specially designed 747 mothership – on Aug. 12, 1977.
This time, it’s personal: Other iconic technologies associated with this date include the first IBM personal computer – the classic IBM Model 5150, dual floppy drives and all – which debuted in stores on Aug. 12, 1981.
Remains of the day: And it was this date in 1990 when the first bones of what would prove to be the largest and most complete T-Rex skeleton ever discovered were unearthed in South Dakota.
Amateur fossil hunter Susan Hendrickson made the astonishing find without breaking ground – according to the story, she spotted three giant dinosaur bones poking out of a cliff face.
Epic saga: American auteur Cecil Blount DeMille (1881-1959) – a visionary director, larger-than-life producer and occasional actor credited as a founding father of American cinema and, statistically, the most commercially successful filmmaker of all time – would be 141 years old today.
Between the lines: Sampras, holding court.
Also born on Aug. 12 were American architect Robert Mills (1781-1855), who designed the Washington Monument; American businessman James Buchanan “Diamond Jim” Brady (1856-1917), a Gilded Era financier remembered for his shady dealings and massive generosity; American aerospace and automotive engineer Vincent Bendix (1881-1945), who mastered four-wheel breaks, among other technological advances; Israeli archeologist Eliezer Sukenik (1889-1953), who determined the age of the Dead Sea Scrolls; and Hungarian-American businessman/philanthropist George Soros (born 1930), who has donated more than $30 billion to global causes (so far).
Game, set, match: And take a bow, Pete Sampras! The American tennis great – a former world No. 1 who retired in 2002 after winning his then-record 14th Grand Slam title – turns 51 today.
Wish the former court king well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips are our baseline and your calendar events always have the advantage.
About our sponsor: The Long Island Business Development Council has helped build the regional economy for 53 years by bringing together government-economic development officials, developers, financial experts and others for education, debate and networking.
BUT FIRST, THIS
“Grow” spurt: The East End Food Institute’s hopes for a new East End Food Hub have received a $100,000 shot in the arm.
In the middle of a $1.5 million fundraising campaign for a new “community kitchen” in Riverhead – designed for the collection, organization and distribution of local produce and craft-food products, and to address what the EEFI calls “inequities related to food access” in schools and regional food pantries – the Southampton-based institute has received a $100,000 “challenge grant” from an anonymous donor. The gift will match every dollar donated through the end of September, up to that lofty six-digit plateau.
The institute, which expects to file site-plan documents for its ambitious food hub with the Town of Riverhead by the end of this year, has so far raised roughly $25,000 toward the $100,000 challenge grant – and about $213,000 toward its $1.5 million Grow With Us campaign goal. More information about donating to the cause is available here.
Comfort zone: Stony Brook Medicine has welcomed its second Ronald McDonald House Charities Family Room.
Much McAppreciated: Stony Brook University Hospital is home to the newest Ronald McDonald House Charities Family Room.
Although colorful, clownish Ronald has been quietly retired as fast-food titan McDonald’s mascot, his namesake charity – including its NY Metro office – continues to do worlds of good for young hospital patients and their families. Ronald McDonald House’s latest altruistic effort is a respite area for parents and other family members of newborns receiving life-saving treatments in SBUH’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Decorated and supplied mostly with donated goods and services, the Family Room – the second Ronald McDonald House Family Room at SBUH, following one opened in Stony Brook Children’s Hospital three years ago – includes a kitchen area, laundry facility and shower, with coffee, snacks and warm meals regularly donated by local restaurants. “Families have been stopping in, expressing their gratitude and using the facilities that we built for them,” noted Ronald McDonald House Charities-NY Metro CEO Matt Campo. “It’s providing so much comfort and has given us a glimpse of what this room will mean to them.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Worth the wait: Northwell Health’s new Pediatric Surgical Operating Complex was nearly a decade – and more than $110 million – in the making.
Are you positive? John Nader is – and his optimistic outlook infuses his presidency of Farmingdale State College, his co-chairmanship of the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council and his engaging guest appearance on Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast.
ICYMI
A changing of the guard at a Syosset-based social-justice champion.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From Florida: Boca Raton-based hair-restoration specialist Bauman Medical fosters follicles with ultrasound-based “transepidermal delivery” system.
From Illinois: Northbrook-based commercial-cleaning creator UMF Corp. rolls out an all-surface “sticky particle” device for hospitality-industry touch-ups.
From Florida: Miami-based blade baron Mundial converts commercial kitchens with German steel and cutting-edge knife-sharpening system.
ON THE MOVE
Trinh Clark
+ Trinh Clark has been promoted to senior vice president and chief global customer experience officer at Melville-based Henry Schein. She previously served as vice president of technology enablement for the North America Distribution Group.
+ Rodion Lerman has joined Uniondale-based Farrell Fritz as a corporate associate practicing in the Manhattan office. He was an associate at Manhattan-based Ross Law Group.
+ Bethpage-based Bethpage Federal Credit Union has announced the appointment of two senior vice presidents:
- Emilio Cooper, formerly chief deposit officer of First Bank NJ, has been named senior vice president of retail banking.
- Musadiq Hassanali, formerly vice president and head of Strategy & Operations for M&T Bank in Buffalo, has been named senior vice president of technology.
+ Jennie Sandler Fiocca has been hired as director of development at Farmingdale State College. She previously held the same position at Family Service League in Huntington.
+ Jennifer Tomeny Stacchini has joined Uniondale-based Farrell Fritz as corporate counsel. She was counsel at the Law Offices of Anthony S. Cannatella in Manhasset.
+ Jarett Greenside has been promoted to senior vice president of radiology at New York Imaging Specialists in Lake Success. He previously served as director of computed tomography and interventional radiology.
+ Jill Anne O’Sullivan has been elected to the Washington-based Manufacturing Leadership Council’s Board of Governors. She is the chairwoman of, and a full professor in, the Computer Systems Department in the Farmingdale State College School of Business.
+ Sophy Lu has been promoted to chief information officer of New Hyde Park-based Northwell Health. She is a Northwell senior vice president who previously served as deputy CIO.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask the LIBDC). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD
Boxed in: What goes around…
Reduce: Inflation is finally slowing down.
Reuse: Backpacks that can survive the school year.
Recycle: How to recycle all that Amazon packaging material.
Reinvent: Please continue supporting the innovative organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Long Island Business Development Council, which is constantly imagining new ways to promote the regional economy. Check them out.
