En-Gulfed: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as another beautiful autumn day graces Long Island – and our many readers in storm-ravaged Florida face another deadly superstorm.
This time, it’s climate change-fueled Hurricane Milton, which exploded from a Category 1 to Category 5 storm in 12 short hours and lands just 10 days after Hurricane Helene tore across Florida’s Gulf Coast. Comments about politically motivated weather-control technologies are staggeringly ignorant and yes, FEMA is responding brilliantly – but our southern neighbors are absolutely taking it on the chin this season. Send them financial support, positive thoughts and anything else you can.
Happy meal: Doesn’t get much better (or simpler).
Small packages: Today is Oct. 9 and on the brighter side of things, we observe National Nanotechnology Day, noting tiny tech’s use in everyday products and its potential for future development. (Why 10/9, you ask? Because the nanometer scale is 10–9 meters, of course.)
Today is also National Fire Prevention Day, raising awareness of fire-safety plans and saluting the efforts of brave and dedicated firefighters across the land.
Classic combo: Why not send a few pies (and maybe a six-pack) to your local firehouse today as a show of gratitude? After all, it’s International Beer and Pizza Day, celebrating two great tastes that go great together every Oct. 9.
Sewn up: Isaac Singer protected his revolutionary sewing-machine motor 169 years ago today.
A stitch in time: Speaking of classics, American inventor and industrialist Isaac Singer patented his sewing machine motor on this date in 1855, changing stitchwork forever.
Put that in your pipe: Also energizing the future was America’s first underground oil pipeline, an eight-kilometer conduit completed on Oct. 9, 1865, in rural Pennsylvania.
Make the call: Also going the distance was the world’s first long-distance phone call, connecting master innovators Alexander Graham Bell (in Boston) and Thomas Watson (in Cambridge) 148 years ago today.
Comforting thought: Also warming the cockles was the electric blanket, which actually dates back to 1912 but first went on sale at a retail shop in Petersburg, Va., on this date in 1946.
Music of the night: And it was Oct. 9, 1986, when “The Phantom of the Opera” – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash-hit theatrical production, with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in the lead roles – opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.
Including the longest run in Broadway history, the hauntingly beautiful international sensation would approach 14,000 performances before closing in 2023 – though it’s already enjoying a revival at Her Majesty’s Theatre.
Cary on: American Canadian anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher and lawyer Mary Ann Camberton Shadd Cary (1823-1893) – a true polymath who was the first Black newspaper publisher in North America, the first woman publisher in Canada and the second Black woman to attend a U.S. law school – would be 201 years old today.
Imagine: Lennon would have been 84 today.
Also born on Oct. 9 were French theologian Robert de Sorbon (1201-1274), a confessor to King Louis IX who founded what became the revered Sorbonne University; French chemist, theoretician and teacher Pierre Macquer (1718-1784), credited with writing the first chemical dictionary; German entrepreneur, engineer and inventor Carl Eugen Langen (1833-1895), a pioneer of internal-combustion engines; German physicist and astronomer Karl Schwarzschild (1873-1916), a key contributor to 20th Century astronomy; and English singer, songwriter, musician, graphic artist and peace activist John Lennon (1940-1980), the immortal Beatle.
Ms. 59: And take a bow, Annika Charlotta Sörenstam! The Swedish entrepreneur and retired professional golfer – an undisputed Hall of Famer who captured 72 LPGA titles (including 11 majors) and remains the only woman to break 60 in an official 18-hole tournament – turns 54 today.
Wish the swinger well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips are a hole-in-one – and your calendar events are always above par (in a good way).
About our sponsor: Whether it’s helping with site selection, cutting through red tape or finding innovative ways to meet specific needs, businesses that settle in the Town of Islip soon learn that we take a proactive approach to seeing them succeed. If your business wants to locate or expand in a stable community with great quality of life, then it’s time you took a closer look at Islip.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Broad(ridge) support: The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell will be bolstered by a $3 million endowed deanship.
Now in its 16th year, the high-ranking medical school will use a $3 million gift from Lake Success-based Broadridge Financial Solutions to create the Deborah and Lawrence Smith Deanship, an endowed position that will give more students debt-free access to professional medical fields. The scholarship-funding endowment, slated to kick off in 2025, is named for the Zucker School’s founding dean and his wife, a passionate human-rights advocate who played a leading role in developing the school’s mission and culture.
Current Dean David Battinelli, who succeeded Smith in 2022, was scheduled to be formally installed as the Deborah and Lawrence Smith Dean this week. “We are immensely grateful to Broadridge for their transformative support,” noted Battinelli, also a Northwell Health executive vice president and the health system’s physician-in-chief. “It is a profound honor to be the first dean to hold this endowed position, which pays tribute to my dear friend and colleague Dr. Smith and honors the memory of his compassionate wife, Deborah … their legacy of service and humanitarianism will live on through the success of our future physicians.”
Remembrance: A new scholarship fund will honor slain St. Mary’s High School graduate Jonathan Diller.
Badge of honor: Speaking of scholarships, a new nonprofit fund honoring a slain New York Police Department detective from Long Island will assist students attending Manhasset’s St. Mary’s High School.
Elected officials, community leaders, colleagues, family and friends gathered Sept. 30 at Mulcahy’s Pub & Concert Hall in Wantagh to announce the Detective Jonathan Diller Scholarship Fund, memorializing an NYPD detective (and 2010 St. Mary’s graduate) who was murdered during a March 25 traffic stop in Far Rockaway. Directly benefitting students attending the detective’s alma mater, the fund – spearheaded by a $5,000 donation from Bellmore-based retail developer MGD Investments – is scheduled to host its first fundraiser event at Mulcahy’s on Nov. 20.
The slain officer’s widow said she hoped the scholarship fund will help students follow her late husband’s example. “Jonathan always talked so fondly about his time [at St. Mary’s] … that’s what made him into the person he was,” Stephanie Diller noted. “I want the scholarship to go to someone who is just like Jonathan and to have that experience and to continue for people to become like him … we need more of Jonathan in the world.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Edge of their seats: Mid-market CEOs are extremely worried about who will occupy the White House next, according to the anxiety-ridden results of the latest Marcum-Hofstra CEO Survey.
The deep end: More in-depth conversations coming soon – until then, dive into nearly four dozen episodes of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast, where we swim with the biggest brains in regional innovation. Come on in, the water’s brilliant.
VOICES
With the big election looming, the Republican Party is once again attempting to sabotage the Affordable Care Act – but with Republican leaders lacking a viable alternative, and with Obamacare enjoying unprecedented popularity, Voices Healthcare Anchor and former Northwell Health Senior VP Terry Lynam wonders whether the GOP will regret this strategy.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Monster Milton: Why Milton is the “horrific” hurricane meteorologists have long feared. The Atlantic battens the hatches.
Innovation nation: Innovation is reaching beyond Big Tech to reshape unexpected industries. Forbes shares some surprises.
Simple strategy: How a stay-home mom grew her side hustle to seven-figure revenues in just five years. Entrepreneur doesn’t overthink it.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Integrated Biosciences, a California-based biotech developing synthetic therapeutics for age-related diseases, raised $17 million in Seed funding led by Sutter Hill Ventures.
+ City Detect, an Alabama-based artificial intelligence-platform helping cities identify, manage and mitigate urban decay and blight, raised $2 million in Seed funding led by LOVC.
+ Yung Sidekick, a Florida-based therapist-notes software platform, raised $825,000 in pre-Seed funding led by Altair Capital and Ultra.VC.
+ Permanent Agriculture, a Washington-based wholesale food marketplace and distributor, raised $3.7 million in Seed funding led by Better Tomorrow Ventures.
+ Nusano, a California-based physics startup focused on radioisotope production, raised more than $115 million in Series C funding led by The Wasatch Group.
+ Kailera Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based clinical-stage biopharma focused on clinical obesity, launched with $400 million in Series A funding led by Atlas Venture, Bain Capital Life Sciences and RTW Investments.
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 Town of Islip). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Musky Smell Edition)
Jump scare: Trumpster Musk is worried about his idol losing the 2024 election.
Dope: Elon and Tucker Carlson enjoy a good laugh over assassinating the vice president.
Nope: Even the conservative SCOTUS wouldn’t hear Elon’s lame Jack Smith appeal.
Slippery slope: Fearing for “brand safety,” advertisers are abandoning X in droves.
Highest hopes: Please continue supporting the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including the Town of Islip Office of Economic Development, where your startup or small business’ biggest aspirations are always part of their plan. Check them out.
