Storm chaser: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we enjoy a blessedly low-humidity (and quite autumnal) stretch on Long Island – recompence for the early week’s mind-blowing deluge (which, while epic, was not quite a record).
Those were some torrential downpours on Sunday and Monday, with the flooding, washed-out roads and emergency declarations to prove it. But here we are, still knee-deep in innovation … and keeping the humor dry.
Senior moment: Age brings wisdom, on National Senior Citizens Day and every day.
Old dominion: Today is Aug. 21 and we begin our midweek review with a nod to National Senior Citizens Day, not only noting the wisdom and experience of our elders, but encouraging younger generations to learn from it (and to offer seniors a helping hand, if necessary).
Speaking of old, it’s also National Poet’s Day, celebrating an intensely personal art form (“poetry” comes from the Greek word poieo, meaning “I create”) that literally predates literacy.
It’s not ice cream: Today’s menu is a little light, though we get to enjoy National Spumoni Day, dishing out the famous Italian gelato known for its multiple colors, varied flavors, chunky chocolate, crushed nuts and candied fruits.
“The best thing on wheels”: Spumoni has been around since the 19th Century – also fairly old-school was Oldsmobile, the Michigan-based automaker founded on this date in 1897 by industrialist Ransom Eli Olds. (For those keeping score, Oldsmobile – originally the Olds Motor Vehicle Co. – finally rolled to a stop in 2004.)
“Fun for a girl or a boy”: Still with us is the helical spring toy Slinky, which Pennsylvania-based naval engineer Richard James applied to patent on Aug. 21, 1946.
Aloha: Wondrous sights abound in America’s 50th State.
“Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono”: Also sticking around is Hawaii, which officially became the 50th U.S. State 65 years ago today, about two months after residents voted to accept statehood. (State motto translation: “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”)
“For every generation”: One of the nation’s longest-lasting retail champions launched on this date in 1969, when entrepreneurs Don and Doris Fisher opened a small shop in San Francisco featuring only two teen-oriented products: Levi’s jeans and LP records. (The Gap would become one of the most celebrated brands in American history.)
“Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”: And it was Aug. 21, 1980, when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was incorporated in Maryland, with that mouthful of a motto at the ready.
The first victory for the highly controversial organization – cheered by the animal-rights set, criticized as extremists by opponents – was an undercover sting at a Silver Spring research laboratory, revealing the gross mistreatment of lab monkeys.
Looney bin: American animator, cartoonist, director, producer and composer Isadore “Friz” Freleng (1905-1995) – a Warner Bros. standout credited as the big thinker behind the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies brands – would be 119 years old today.
Big deal: Chamberlain was a dominant force at every level of play.
Also born on Aug. 21 were Scottish chemist, inventor and mechanical engineer William Murdock (1754-1839), a pioneer of coal gas and steam power; Belgian physician and analytical chemist Jean Servais Stas (1813-1891), who weighed in on atomic weights; American jazz pianist, composer and bandleader William James “Count” Basie (1904-1984), who’s synonymous with jazz’s Golden Age; American basketball great Wilton Norman “Wilt the Stilt” Chamberlain (1936-1999), who rose from high school legend to NCAA champion to NBA all-timer; and American billionaire twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (born 1981), who got screwed by Mark Zuckerberg but more than made it up in cryptocurrency.
You can Google it: And take a bow, Sergey Mikhailovich Brin! The Russian American computer scientist and businessman – who cofounded multinational tech behemoth Google and parent company Alphabet, leading to a net worth of roughly $133.7 billion – turns 51 today.
Give Forbes Magazine’s eighth-richest person in the world (as of Tuesday) your best at editor@innovateli.com, where our net worth is based largely on your news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano PLLC is one of the region’s most highly regarded and recognized law firms. Our attorneys are thought leaders, dedicated to achieving success through excellence. With our broad experience in land use, development, litigation, real estate, corporate and environmental law, we have the vision and knowledge to serve our clients and our communities. Please visit sahnward.com.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Farmingdale freebie: Marking a Northwell Health first, Farmingdale State College has hooked its wagon to the Northwell Community Scholars Program.
Launched in 2022 by the New Hyde Park-based health system, the program pays the lion’s share of educational expenses for incoming collegians from less-fortunate backgrounds – at first, exclusively students graduating from high schools in Freeport, Hempstead, Bay Shore and Brentwood and pursing studies at Nassau Community College or Suffolk County Community College. Expanding for the first time to a four-year school, the CSP will now support five students from underserved New York State communities entering Farmingdale State this fall.
Specifically, the program will cover 85 percent of each student’s tuition and fees, with up to an additional $10,500 toward indirect expenses – including books, transportation, lab fees and meal plans – for the entirety of their Farmingdale State studies. “This program will help remove the barrier of cost for students who are willing to put in the work,” noted Farmingdale State College Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement Matthew Colson. “We are exceptionally excited to partner with Northwell to make the dream of a college education a reality.”
Coming … sooner than later: A permanent home for its farmer’s market is one of several priorities for East End Food.
Hunger pains: A Long Island nonprofit known best for helping residents through their hardest days is itself experiencing tough times.
Southampton-based East End Food (formerly the East End Food Institute, a 2019 rebrand from the original Amagansett Food Institute) is at a “pivotal crossroads,” thanks primarily to “operational challenges” at the new East End Food Hub in Riverhead. The struggles are limiting the organization’s ability to prepare and distribute food to less-fortunate families and delaying the opening of its ballyhooed farmer’s market, a blow to numerous Long Island producers.
In response, the 501(c)3 charity has launched The Power of Food, a $500,000 fundraising campaign – enough to complete construction of the new hub, stock its shared kitchen with high-volume food-processing equipment, cover salaries and otherwise support the noble anti-hunger mission (at press deadline, just under $15,000 had been raised). “Our community has always been the driving force behind our success, and now, more than ever, we need your help to overcome these challenges,” Executive Director Marci Marceau said in a statement. “Together, we can … ensure that East End Food remains a vital resource for years to come.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Learned behaviors: With schools reopening and school-related data breaches rising fast, administrators must double down on cybersecurity protocols, according to IntelligentCloudCare IT Manager Karim Farid.
Success stories: Success never comes easily – just ask the amazing lineup of special guests gracing “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast,” our intimate interview show featuring the backstories, current events and highest ambitions of the region’s coolest innovators. The stories so far.
VOICES
With fatalities rising, Family and Children’s Services President/CEO and Voices Social Services Anchor Jeffrey Reynolds takes a sobering looking at the regional, state and national drunk- and drugged-driving dilemma – and issues a strong call to support public-health and law-enforcement measures with innovative technological solutions
STUFF WE’RE READING
Reduce: Hollywood? NYC? Nope – this small Kentucky city is the weight-loss drug capital of America. NPR goes pound-for-pound.
Reuse: An oil-focused Texas metropolis has become sustainable energy’s adaptive-reuse poster city. Forbes takes a new path.
Recycle: When is “recyclable” not “recyclable”? Ask the plastics industry. Salon digs through the trash.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Quantum Circuits, a Connecticut-based quantum-computer developer, raised $60 million-plus in Series B funding led by ARCH Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital, Sequoia Capital and Hither Creek Ventures.
+ Spineology, a Minnesota-based medical-device manufacturer, raised $25 million in equity funding led by SV Health Investors.
+ H3X, a Colorado-based high-power-density electric motor manufacturer, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Infinite Capital.
+ Intramotev, a Missouri-based developer of battery-electric autonomous railcars, raised $14 million in Series A funding led by Flybridge Capital Partners and Alpaca VC.
+ Photon Health, a New York City-based startup electronic prescription platform, raised $9 million in funding led by Notation Capital and Flare Capital Partners.
+ Type One Energy, a Tennessee-based sustainable-fusion power provider, closed its $82.4 million seed financing round backed by Centaurus Capital, GD1 and Foxglove.
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 Sahn Ward). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Dollar For Dollar Edition)
Roll with it: Yes, you’re getting less toilet paper for more money.
Top dollar: Behold, the highest-paying fully remote jobs.
Middle dollar: New York holds center in a national review of median home prices.
Bottom dollar: Why the price keeps growing, but the toilet paper keeps getting smaller.
Dollar tree: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano, where wisdom and experience help your most lucrative corporate destiny ripen on the vine. Check them out.
