Short and sweet: Blink and you missed it, dear readers – the first workweek of 2023 is already in the books!
Well, almost – just one more workday between you and the first full weekend of the New Year. Let’s start it right with a Friday innovation review.
Fun while it lasted: It wouldn’t be special if it was all the time.
Tech the halls: It’s Jan. 6 out there, certainly one of our favorites – National Technology Day, a salute to the nonstop technological innovations that continuously enhance our everyday lives.
Today is also National Take Down the Christmas Tree Day, an annual 13th day of Christmas chore (that can probably wait for the weekend), and National Shortbread Day, a celebration of the Scottish cookies always baked fresh Jan. 6.
In this corner: Other innovations hailing from Great Britain include boxing, which became a thing on this date in 1681, when the duke of Albemarle sanctioned the first recorded bout between his butler and his butcher.
Telegraphed it: Also punching above his weight was American painter and inventor Samuel Morse, who significantly advanced human communications when he demonstrated his telegraph machine on Jan. 6, 1838.
Old school: Montessori, mother of all teachers.
New school of thought: Speaking of major human advances, physician and educator Maria Montessori improved education forever when she opened the first Montessori School in Rome 116 years ago today.
Cliché call: The first transatlantic phone call – a 3,000-mile “test” from New York to London that reportedly began with the now-famous phrase “can you hear me now?” – connected on this date in 1927.
Look at this studio: And it was Jan. 6, 1975, when “Wheel of Fortune” – the longest-running syndicated gameshow in American television history – took its first spin on the NBC Television Network.
For the record, gameshow veteran Chuck Woolery was the show’s first host – life-sentence inmates Pat Sajak and Vanna White weren’t locked up until 1981 and 1982, respectively.
If adventure has a name…: American mountain man Jedediah Smith (1799-1831) – who battled bears, hostile Native Americans and other dangers as he blazed trails across the Rocky Mountains – would be 224 years old today.
Johnny be bad: DeLorean ran out of time and space.
Also born on this date were French aviator Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (1745-1799), who joined brother Joseph-Michel to make hot-air ballooning history; Swiss geologist Émile Argand (1879-1940), who mastered terrestrial architecture; American actress Loretta Young (1913-2000), a Silver Screen icon and Academy Award winner; American automobile executive John DeLorean (1925-2005), an innovative engineer who reinvented and then destroyed the American Dream Car; and American novelist E.L. Doctorow (1931-2015), a master manipulator of traditional genres.
We are (still) family: And take a bow, Kathy Sledge! The founding (and youngest) member of American vocal group Sister Sledge – known best for enduring superhit “We Are Family” – turns 64 today.
Wish the most famous Sledge sister well at editor@innovateli.com, where we get up (everybody) and sing when we receive your news tips and calendar events
About our sponsor: Farmingdale State College delivers exceptional academic and applied-learning outcomes through scholarship, research and student engagement. Our commitment to student-centered learning and inclusiveness prepares exemplary citizens equipped to excel in a competitive, diverse and technically dynamic society. Long Island’s first public institution of higher education, Farmingdale State is a regional economic cornerstone, with 96 percent of graduates working in New York State and 75 percent working on Long Island. We prepare emerging leaders in the growing technology, engineering, business and healthcare fields. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Match game: Albany’s latest economic-development initiative will match private investments in statewide early-stage enterprises dollar-for-dollar.
The $30 million Pre-Seed and Seed Matching Fund Program matches private-sector investments of between $50,000 and $250,000 in startups and other early-stage ventures across all industries. To qualify, applicant companies must have raised less than $2 million in dilutive funding to date; they must also be registered to do business in New York State, agree to locate their headquarters here and maintain at least one C-level employee in the state.
The competitive funding program – which pays extra attention to entrepreneurs of color and other “historically marginalized individuals,” according to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office – ensures “critical” access to startup capital for struggling entrepreneurs, the governor said Thursday. “The Pre-Seed and Seed Matching Fund Program will help these businesses gain their footing and create the jobs of the future,” Hochul added. “I thank our federal partners for … extending a lifeline to New York’s small-business ecosystem.”
James Hayward: Animal instincts.
Vaccination celebration: Long Island’s most ambitious biotech continues to demonstrate the efficacy of its linear DNA-based vaccines across the animal kingdom.
Just months after announcing that a COVID vaccine candidate created with its proprietary LinearDNA platform stopped SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in ferrets, Stony Brook-based Applied DNA Sciences has published a study in the journal Molecular Therapy Methods & Clinical Development supporting the large-scale development of polymerase chain reaction-based vaccines. The study, performed by Applied DNA and Italian development partner EvviVax, demonstrates the vaccine candidate’s safety and immunogenicity and ultimately determines “protective immunity in domestic cats” treated with the PCR-based COVID vaccine.
That peer-reviewed praise nominates LinearDNA vaccines as “a potential new class of human and veterinary therapeutics,” according to Applied DNA President and CEO James Hayward. “Adding to already robust data supporting the potential of LinearDNA, this study and others being conducted and planned make a compelling case for LinearDNA as a next-generation, DNA-based vaccine platform,” Hayward added.
TOP OF THE SITE
High cards: The ambitious acquisition of an established Florida firm signals a new era of “inorganic” growth for a Woodbury-based card-processing veteran.
Wind-win situation: The Brookhaven IDA has finalized tax breaks supporting the construction of a new $37.8 million Sunrise Wind operations facility in East Setauket.
Think about it: Sponsored by Huntington-based PR pros Brandtelling, Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast is stocked with great stories, best practices and solid advice, shared by the leaders the regional innovation economy. Hear what they think.
ICYMI
From biomass waste to climate-friendly fertilizers; from imaginary entrepreneurs to real-world innovators.
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: Naples-based orthopedic-tech trailblazer Arthrex rewrites the bunions book with Minimally Invasive Bunionectomy System.
From Colorado: Longmont-based software specialist Parascript upgrades natural language processing tools to pluck specific data from documents.
From California: San Francisco-based OS originator Swit Technologies dispatches cutting-edge employee-collaboration tool to the Republic of Korea.
ON THE MOVE
Matthew Bredes
+ Matthew Bredes has been hired as chief financial officer at Wading River-based Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York. He was the audit director for international accounting firm Binder Dijker Otte.
+ Uniondale-based Farrell Fritz has promoted five attorneys to partner:
- John Armentano, Land Use and Municipal Litigation
- Azriel Baer, Trusts and Estates
- Peter Sluka, Commercial Litigation and Business Divorce
- Lisa Vaccaro, Commercial Finance and Banking
- Irene Zoupaniotis, Labor and Employment
+ David Rosen has been hired as claims supervisor at Roslyn-based EmPRO Insurance. He was a senior claims specialist at Sedgwick in Manhattan.
+ Ronkonkoma-based Campolo, Middleton & McCormick has promoted attorneys Vincent Costa and David Green to partner.
+ Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana has promoted six attorneys to partner:
- Lisa Casa, Employment and Labor
- John Gordon, IDA Benefits and Government Incentives
- Brian Kennedy, Land Use and Zoning
- Alexander Leong, Employment and Labor
- Lindsay Mesh Lotito, Banking and Finance; Real Estate
- Erik Snipas, Land Use and Zoning; IDA Benefits and Government Incentives
+ Uniondale-based Ruskin Moscou Faltischek has promoted three attorneys to partner:
- Lois Bladykas, Trusts & Estates Department; Estate, Trust and Fiduciary Litigation Practice Group
- John Chillemi, Real Estate Department; Land Use and Environment Practice Group; IDA & Municipal Development Incentives Practice Group
- David Durso, Health Law and Corporate & Securities departments; White Collar Crime and Investigations; Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice Groups
+ Marc Fried has been hired as vice president of Northeast operations for Lake Success-based Transervice Logistics. He was director of operations at Pennsylvania-based American Expediting Company.
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 Farmingdale State). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Get Back To Work Edition)
Dig deep: Rediscovering your post-holiday flow can be tough.
Sick day: A state-by-state guide to paid sick leave.
Busting out: How to overcome that post-holiday slump.
Better spent: Why more companies are canceling employee meetings.
Break’s over: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Farmingdale State College, where educators and administrators are always hard at work creating the most rewarding student experiences. Check them out.
