Speed limit: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we motor through May and race through another Springtime workweek.
It’s hard to believe, but if you factor in the rapidly approaching three-day Memorial Day weekend, May is virtually half over already! Let’s tap the brakes and slow things down long enough to enjoy this midweek innovation review.
Big love, small package: Hug a chihuahua today.
Greetings: Today is May 14, and that’s the second Wednesday of May, and that’s National Receptionists Day, a well-earned homage to the secretaries/greeters/frontline forces that keep our workplaces on point.
Not entirely unrelated to receptionists, even in the Digital Age, is World Stationery Day, a May 14 salute to pens, notebooks, envelopes and other old-school writing staples largely lost to modern clickity-clacks.
Yo quiero Taco Bell: Also going to the dogs – in a more positive fashion – is International Chihuahua Appreciation Day, showing annual affection for what is, officially, the world’s smallest dog breed (including Gidget, the late, great Taco Bell mascot).
If fast-food Mexican is a little too spicy for your delicate constitution, dial back to National Buttermilk Biscuit Day, flaky and delicious every May 14.
Slow start: Speaking of delicate Constitutions, the notion of whether the U.S. Constitution is still the law of the land is suddenly in doubt – but there’s no doubt that this date in 1787 marked the official start of the Constitutional Convention that created the landmark document. (Historian’s note: Only eight delegates made it to Philadelphia on time, so the convention didn’t actually get down to business until May 25.)
Vaccination inspiration: Also a little flaky, but ultimately proven a genius, was English country doctor Edward Jenner, who on May 14, 1796, thought to scratch liquid squeezed from another person’s cowpox blister into the skin of an 8-year-old boy as a prevention against smallpox – recorded as the world’s first vaccination against a contagious disease.
Timing is everything: Foreshadowing the modern stopwatch, the first practical chronograph – a watch that could be stopped, restarted and reset, marking a quantum leap for the accurate recording of elapsed time – was patented on this date in 1862 by Swiss-born London watchmaker Adolphe Nicole.
Hold the peanut butter: It doesn’t go with this jelly, known as “Vaseline” since this date in 1878.
Jelly roll: Also pretty slick was the petroleum jelly developed by English-born chemist Robert Augustus Chesebrough – trademarked as “Vaseline” 147 years ago today.
Apple watch: And it was May 14, 1968, when Apple was introduced to the world at a New York City press conference.
Not the multinational Apple Inc. – Apple Corps Limited, launched by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison to promote the Beatles. (The still-kicking conglomerate was officially formed in England on May 11 of that year, for those keeping score.)
High in the saddle: American Canadian cowboy John Ware (1845-1905) – an emancipated American slave, skilled horseman and accomplished farmer credited with developing Canada’s burgeoning ranching industry, particularly across southern Alberta – would be 180 years old today. (Lacking exact records, his exact birthdate is unknown but estimated to be on this date somewhere between 1845 and 1850.)
Jill Stein: Conversation starter.
Also born on May 14 were Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields (1863-1932), a strong advocate for scientific research and namesake of the famous “Nobel Prize of mathematics”; American writer, producer and director George Lucas (born 1944), the multibillionaire creator of the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises and founder of several successful filmmaking companies; German American entrepreneur, educator and computer scientist Sebastian Thrun (born 1967), an uber-successful industrialist known best for formulating probabilistic algorithms for robotics; Australian actor and film producer Cate Blanchett (born 1969), a two-time Academy Award-winner who may be done with acting; and American computer programmer and entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg (born 1984), the chairman, controlling shareholder and CEO (bitch) of Facebook parent Meta Platforms.
Doctor of politics: And take a bow, Jill Ellen Stein! Famous for challenging America’s “corrupt” two-party system, the American physician, outspoken activist and perennial candidate – three Green Party runs for U.S. President (2012, 2016, 2024) and two Green-Rainbow Party bids for Massachusetts governor (2002, 2010) – turns 75 today.
Give the divisive political figure your best at editor@innovateli.com, where our campaign is focused solely on innovation – and our system works best when you share news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: Presberg Law P.C. is Long Island’s premier “IDA” and business law firm for businesses locating, relocating and expanding on Long Island. Founded in 1984, this multigenerational practice focuses on the purchase, sale, leasing and financing of commercial and industrial real estate, SBA and other loan transactions, construction projects and business sales and acquisitions.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Water world: Suffolk County-based schools swept the awards in this year’s Long Island Water Quality Challenge.
Hosted by the Long Island Regional Planning Council, the annual competition challenges students across the Island to design innovative “green Infrastructure” projects that help reduce nitrogen pollution from stormwater runoff on school grounds. A panel of water-quality experts from the LIRPC, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District selected the winners, including two Central Islip High School 11th graders eyeing bioswales – artificial channels designed to filter pollutants – around their school parking lot and a William Floyd High School team proposing native rain gardens in strategic downslope depression areas.
Also making the grade was a Smithtown High School West team pitching rain gardens with native plants and a sand/gravel/mulch/compost soil mixture (ideal for draining and filtering) and five students from The Stony Brook School who designed a 3D-printed filtration system comprised of gravel, silica sand and the microporous mineral compound zeolite (marking the first private-school win in the annual competition). The crowned schools are each eligible for a $2,500 stipend to help implement their projects.
Phyllis Hill Slater: People’s champion.
In memoriam: The Long Island business community is mourning the passing of a nationally influential small-business champion.
Phyllis Hill Slater, who died last week at the age of 80, was a visionary leader who chaired the Long Island Development Corp. (a premier provider of low-interest business-development loans) and founded the Long Island Small Business Assistance Corp. (a U.S. Treasury Department-recognized Certified Development Finance Institution). Slater – who began her professional career working for her father’s professional engineering firm – also founded Hill Slater Inc., a circa-1984 engineering and architectural consultancy based in Great Neck.
The past president of the National Association of Women Business Owners was a consultant to every U.S. President since Jimmy Carter and a three-time delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business, and was instrumental in the passage of the Women Business Owners Act of 1988. A veteran of several national boards (servicing Allstate, AT&T, the National Women Business Owners Corp. and other high-profile organizations), Slater was also a veteran contributor to many regional associations, including the Long Island Community Foundation (now part of the New York Community Trust), the Economic Opportunity Commission of Nassau County and Women Economic Developers of Long Island, among others.
TOP OF THE SITE
To your health: With their $22.6 billion megamerger complete, Northwell Health and Nuvance Health are off and running toward a healthier future for communities across New York and Connecticut.
Listening post: New episodes of “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” will be posted this summer … first, revisit four-dozen-plus classics featuring success secrets, sound strategies and generous giggles shared by the most enigmatic leaders of the Long Island innovation economy. Post haste!
VOICES
Trade wars, on-again/off-again tariffs, volatile stock markets … global economics are on a stomach-churning roller coaster and investors’ mental health is along for the rollicking ride, according to Family and Children’s Association President/CEO and Voices Social Services Anchor Jeffrey Reynolds, who explores the direct link between stock market woes and psychological wellbeing.
Something to say? Welcome to The Entrepreneur’s Edge, Innovate Long Island’s new promoted-content news feature platform – a direct link from you to our innovation-focused audience. Progressive product to promote? Singular service to sell? Sociopolitical position to push? Shine a bright light on the big picture, the little details and everything in between with The Entrepreneur’s Edge. Living on the edge.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Cutthroat tote: Trader Joe’s tote-bag mania has officially crossed the line. Salon bags it.
Crate bait: Exactly what did they find in those Nazi storage bins in Argentina? The BBC clarifies crates.
Outfoxed box? Good luck predicting Summer 2025 Hollywood box office returns. The L.A. Times checks boxes.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Foundation Alloy, a Massachusetts-based startup focused on new-metal manufacturing, raised $7.5 million in funding. Backers included Alumni Ventures, America’s Frontier Fund, Engine Ventures, El Cap, Material Impact and Yamaha Motor Ventures.
+ X-Bow Systems, a New Mexico-based manufacturer of solid-rocket motors and defense technologies, raised more than $105 million in Series B funding led by Lockheed Martin.
+ Tobin Scientific, a Massachusetts-based life sciences innovator embracing current good manufacturing practices, raised $65 million in funding led by Denali Growth Partners and Truck 9 Partners.
+ Autobooks, a Michigan-based business-finance platform, received a $40 million investment from Runway Growth Capital.
+ Kouper, a New York City-based health-technology platform designed to transform transitions of care, raised $10 million in funding led by General Catalyst, 25Madison and CVS Health Ventures.
+ mPower Technologies, a New Mexico-based provider of solar power solutions for space sciences, raised more than $21 million in Series B funding led by Razor’s Edge Ventures and Shield Capital.
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 Presberg Law). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Real Feel Edition)
Plant therapy: Living longer — and healthier — through gardening.
Feeling better: How gardening can help you live longer.
Feeling worse: Science says this is the worst allergy season ever.
For better or worse: Engagement up, wellbeing down across the remote-work world.
Once more, with feeling: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Presberg Law, which puts its heart and soul – and decades of experience – into every corporate case and land-use transaction. Check them out.
