No rest for the weary: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, as we wind down another busy workweek and tee up another bustling autumnal weekend.
Yes, the leaves are piling up and you still haven’t taken down the Halloween decorations, and now there are just two weeks until Thanksgiving (and only seven shopping weekends, including this one, before Christmas!). But don’t let any of that stress you – today’s a great day for innovation and cake, as you’re about to see.
Needle point: Science is the main course today, with a side serving of World Immunization Day.
Science wins: We open our Nov. 10 review with a nod to World Science Day for Peace and Development, the UN’s annual spotlight on wondrous medical and technological advances resulting from global nonmilitary research efforts.
Perhaps not coincidentally, today is also World Immunization Day, an homage to the critical importance of disease prevention through sound science.
Let them eat cupcake: There’s no debating the science (or positive effects) of moist cake and buttercream frosting, central ingredients of National Vanilla Cupcake Day, classic dessert of choice every Nov. 10.
Always faithful: Toughen up, cupcake – what would become known as the United States Marine Corps formed on Nov. 10, 1775, when the Continental Congress introduced the Continental Marine Act.
Rowe together: Yankee Rowe was the first U.S. plant to commercialize atomic energy.
People power: Yellowcake of a different kind was in play on this date in 1960, when commercialized U.S. atomic energy became a thing at the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts.
Puppet power: Other energizers associated with this date include unparalleled children’s show “Sesame Street,” which debuted on Nov. 10, 1969, and is still airing nationwide on PBS (with first-run episodes streaming on premium channel HBO Max).
It spread fast: The term “computer virus” was coined on this date in 1983 during an eye-opening digital demonstration at the University of Southern California.
Sold: And it was one year ago today when the biggest art auction in history went down at Christie’s New York, with paintings and sculptures from the personal collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen on the block.
Spanning 500 years of human history, the auctioned artworks raised more than $1.5 billion total (five individual pieces eclipsed $100 million apiece), with proceeds earmarked for various charities supported by the late philanthropist, who died in 2018.
Reformative action: German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor and Augustinian friar Martin Luther (1483-1546) – the central figure of the Protestant Reformation and a lifelong student (and preacher) of philosophy and education (despite that whole “reason is the devil’s whore” thing) would be 540 years old today.
The show must go on: The unsinkable Froman found new purpose in her tragic accident.
Also born on Nov. 10 were British scholar and philanthropist Granville Sharp (1735-1813), the leading abolitionist of 18th Century England; French engineer, automobile manufacturer and business magnate Alexandre Darracq (1855-1931), who mastered mass production; American aircraft pioneer John Knudson “Jack” Northrop (1895-1981), another gifted engineer and industrialist; American actress, singer and plane crash survivor Jane Froman (1911-1980), a popular performer and courageous inspiration; and American sports broadcaster Linda Cohn (born 1960), the Long Island native ranked among ESPN’s longest-tenured anchors.
A Whole New World: And take a bow, Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice! The English lyricist – known best for Disney’s “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” adaptations, for writing Broadway’s “Aida” and cowriting “Chess,” and for many successful collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber (before things went sour) – turns 79 today.
Help the British national treasure Feel The Love Tonight with a note to editor@innovateli.com, where Everything’s Alright with birthday wishes, we stay One Jump Ahead with news tips and you’re the calendar-events Superstar. (Hakuna Matata!)
About our sponsor: Stony Brook University Economic Development collaborates with regional innovators, supports startups and facilitates early-stage enterprise by leveraging the resources of a SUNY Flagship University and partner Brookhaven National Laboratory. Combining state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, the world-class expertise of 900-plus scientific investigators and best commercialization practices, Economic Development and its partners have the collective imagination and ability to attain exciting new heights for the Long Island innovation economy. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Mental health mission: Northwell Health will invest $350 million – and look to raise another $150 million – on a multiyear quest to expand regional pediatric mental-health services.
Eyeing both new-and-improved services for adolescents and teens and better access to them, the New Hyde Park-based health system announced its five-year behavioral-health mission this week, during the 40th anniversary celebration of Cohen Children’s Medical Center. The strategy hinges on a planned 200,000-square-foot Child and Adolescent Mental Health Pavilion, featuring 100-plus inpatient beds and numerous specialty ambulatory clinics, all leveraging resources from Cohen Children’s and Zucker Hillside Hospital – Northwell’s Glen Oaks-based adult mental-health facility – for the benefit of younger patients.
By linking mental-health and physical-health resources, the new pavilion will challenge “stigma and disparities in access,” according to Northwell Senior Vice President of Pediatric Services Charles Schleien. “We are enhancing our holistic approach … so that children in need will have access to the very best evidence-based treatments,” Schleien added. “This investment will break the archaic siloed approach in which physical health is addressed at one facility and mental health at another.”
Build it up: VetsBuild trains U.S. military veterans for service in the growing clean-energy industries.
United they train: A Suffolk County stipend will help United Way of Long Island remake its Deer Park headquarters – and train military veterans and young adults for jobs in the burgeoning clean-energy industries.
The county has awarded a $385,000 JumpSMART Small Business Downtown Investment Program grant to UWLI, which is transforming its longtime HQ into an energy-efficient “command center” for regional nonprofits temporarily stymied by severe storms and other catastrophic events. While outfitting the facility with cutting-edge technologies – including its own 576 PV solar modules – the Long Island branch will also use the funds to flesh out its VetsBuild, YouthBuild and PowerUp! Wind, Solar & Renewables Career Training programs, aiming different age groups straight for the heart of the renewables sector.
United Way of Long Island President and CEO Theresa Regnante thanked outgoing Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone for his commitment to workforce development and for this latest award. “These funds will support the transformation of our headquarters into a net-zero facility and provide tomorrow’s workforce with the skills needed to build a Long Island community that leaves a lighter footprint,” Regnante added.
TOP OF THE SITE
Signal boost: A new 3,600-watt transmitter has Stony Brook University’s official radio station feeling strong, after a year-and-a-half in low-range hell.
Strength in numbers: Boost our signal with an always easy, always free subscription to this engaging and entertaining newsletter (more subscribers really help expand our range). Tell your friends.
ICYMI
Innovate Long Island hits the road with an award-winning podcast/documentary producer from Commack who’s surrounded by true crime, deadly plagues and extraterrestrial invaders – not to mention baffling breakfast mysteries.
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 Washington State: Seattle-based AI-infrastructure ace OctoML innovates visual-art creation with customizable image-generation architecture.
From Louisiana: Shreveport-based, immigrant-owned Louisiana Pecan Co. navigates international tariffs to captivate the domestic pecan market.
From Canada, eh: Toronto-based performance-marketing platform Hyperscale helps companies increase profitability of low-performing Facebook ads.
ON THE MOVE
Katrina Hill
+ Katrina Hill has been hired as vice president for network relations and capacity building at Hauppauge-based Long Island Cares Inc. She was division director of care coordination for Medford-based Federation of Organizations.
+ The Long Island Association has elected seven new Board of Directors members:
- Robert Free, acting president of MTA-LIRR
- JoAnne Hewett, director of Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Stuart Lubow, president and CEO of Dime Community Bank
- Robert Milas, senior vice president/Long Island market executive at Citizens Bank
- Andrew Rainone, senior vice president/business sales at Altice
- Kim Stone, president of UBS Arena
- Morgan Taylor, vice president of business operations at BSE Global
+ Mike Sleszynski has been hired as a senior project architect at Melville-based H2M architects + engineers. He was a senior associate project architect at Bay Shore-based Bouler Pfluger Architects.
+ Port Washington-based Helen Keller Services has appointed five new Board of Trustees members:
- Dina DePina, senior vice president of marketing at Madison Square Garden Entertainment
- Matthew Garvey, vice president/talent acquisition at Centerline Communications
- Cara Petruccelli, managing director/capital markets at Coastal Ridge Real Estate
- Allison Robl Stransky, professional marketer
- Namrata Yadav, senior vice president/Academy Community Advancement at Bank of America
+ Chelsea Zhao has been hired as a staff engineer at Melville-based H2M architects + engineers. She is a recent graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
+ Jennifer DiMaio has been promoted to assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Valley Stream Central High School District. She previously served as district director of instructional services.
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 Stony Brook University). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Buyer Beware Edition)
What a steal: That really is a great price … but were you planning to spend that money?
Sticker shock: It’s not (rapidly dropping) inflation padding the bill –it’s “downwardly rigid prices.”
Do your part: National retailers expect nearly $1 trillion in holiday spending this year.
Born every minute: How to avoid “spaving,” a common sucker bet for budget shoppers.
Best buys: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Stony Brook University Economic Development, where time and money are well-spent commercializing today’s biggest scientific breakthroughs. Check them out.
