No place like dome: Welcome to another warm Wednesday, dear readers, as the “heat dome” holds over Long Island and much of the nation – though relief from this record-setting heatwave is in sight.
Just one more day of intense temperatures, they say, before things cool down – and three more days of red-hot innovation, we say, before the weekend (followed by a well-earned shortened holiday workweek). Here’s a no-sweat innovation review to help you hurdle the hump dive over the dome.
The toughest job you’ll ever love: Life isn’t easy for seafarers … though it has its moments.
A really short workweek, actually: Before we land on the other side, a quick reminder that Innovate Long Island will be on Summer vacation the week leading up to Independence Day, so please watch for this Friday’s regularly scheduled newsletter and then enjoy your Fourth of July festivities – we’ll be back at you July 7. Another reminder Friday.
All’s farer: Here on June 25, we cast off with the Day of the Seafarer, the International Maritime Organization’s annual salute to the global community earning its living on the high seas. (This year’s focus: “My Harassment-Free Ship,” promoting a culture of diversity and respect and zero tolerance for onboard bullying.)
A little fishy: Back on dry land, we can enjoy (perhaps) a menu of fairly specific tastes – National Catfish Day (not bad when fried and drowned in tartar sauce), National Goat’s Cheese Day (great when stuffed into baked chicken) and National Strawberry Parfait Day (serve with amaretto-soaked biscuits, if possible) are all dished out on June 25.
Holy switcheroo: Also somewhat fishy was the degree in philosophy earned on this date in 1678 by Italian scholar Elena Cornaro, making her the first woman in history to earn a university degree. (Fishy not because she didn’t deserve the honor – she certainly did – but because Cornaro had actually earned a degree in theology, which was denied by the church.)
Sweet Virginia: Political philosophy took center stage on June 25, 1788, when Virginia – one of the original 13 colonies – ratified the U.S. Constitution and was officially welcomed as the 10th State of the Union.
Sharp contrast: Who REALLY invented barbed wire? That’s a difficult point to make.
Sticky situation: Constitutional law gave way to IP law on this date in 1867, when Ohio-based inventor Lucien Smith patented barbed wire. (For the record, two other inventors created something similar to Smith’s barbs in the months before and after, setting up an early patent battle that none of the three would ultimately win.)
Well, black and white are colors: Also occupying a gray area was color television, which became a thing 74 years ago today when the CBS Television Network broadcasted the first-ever color program on commercial TV – the beauty of which was largely lost, since most Americans owned black-and-white sets.
Windows to the world: And it was June 25, 1981, when Microsoft was incorporated in Washington State.
The official incorporation came six years after co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, fresh off of inventing the Basic computer language, launched their little startup.
Living an Orwellian nightmare: British author and social critic Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950) – known best by the pen name George Orwell, whose anti-totalitarian views made him a (rather prophetic) master of dystopian fiction – would be 122 years old today.
Karisma points: Legendary Bollywood actress Kapoor has led storied lives on and off screen.
Also born on June 25 were German scientist Walther Nernst (1864-1941), a Nobel Prize-winner credited with founding modern physical chemistry; Belgian cartoonist and writer Peyo (born Pierre Culliford, 1928-1992), who created the Smurfs; American author and illustrator Eric Carle (1929-2021), who entertained generations with 70-plus picture books translated into more than 60 languages (including “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”); English singer, songwriter, record producer and pop culture icon George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, 1963-2016), a two-time Grammy-winner and one of history’s best-selling recording artists; and Indian actress Karisma Kapoor (born 1974), a multiple award-winner ranked among history’s most popular Bollywood performers.
Marching on: And take a bow, James Howard Meredith! The American civil rights activist, writer and political adviser – a U.S. Air Force veteran who was the first African American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississippi – turns 92 today.
Give the equality icon your best at editor@innovateli.com, where our march toward social justice is largely focused on socioeconomics – and heavily reliant on your 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.
POLL POSITION
Just three days to go before we pull the plug on our first-ever Reader Survey, a golden chance to help direct the future course of your favorite innovation-economy website and newsletters – and maybe win yourself a handy dandy $50 Visa Gift Card along the way (not bad for 90 seconds of your time!).
We’re giving away three of those in a random drawing of survey respondents – and hoping to hear from you as we consider new features to better serve our innovation-minded audience. The poll closes Friday … have your say now!
BUT FIRST, THIS
Taking the LOCAL: One of Long Island’s busiest business boosters and the Island’s largest Internet/TV services provider have doled out dozens of hefty checks through the second-annual LOCAL Small Business Grants program.
The competitive grant program – run by Optimum Business and the LIA Foundation, charitable arm of the Long Island Association – awarded $5,000 business-development grants to 40 small businesses based in Nassau and Suffolk counties at a June 18 Small Business Summit. The partners behind LOCAL (for “Lifting our Community Businesses Across Long Island”) – including the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce – are slated to announce two grand-prize winners, each receiving a $25,000 stipend, later this Summer.
The $250,000 grant-making effort has quickly become a cornerstone of the LIA’s business-development crusade, according to Long Island Association President and CEO Matt Cohen. “Supporting small businesses on Long Island isn’t just part of our mission – it is woven into the fabric of who we are,” Cohen noted. “The success and growth of these small businesses are integral to the prosperity of our local Long Island communities … we are honored to play a role in their journey.”
Talent show: Musicians and judges gathered June 22 for the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame’s annual scholarship presentation.
Bank notes: The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame has shined another bright spotlight with its 2025 scholarship program.
The LIMEHOF awarded 11 scholarships this year – including the third-annual Pat DeRosa Memorial Scholarship, named for the 2018 Guiness Book of World Records’ “Oldest Professional Saxophone Player” – to high school graduates planning to study music, music education and/or performing arts in college. Three of the recipients performed live during a June 22 awards ceremony at the Stony Brook-based venue, with William MacIntosh of Farmingville’s St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School and DeAndre Simmons of Huntington High School offering violin solos and Alyssa Wong of Great Neck South High School singing “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad” from the Broadway musical “Bonnie & Clyde.”
The winners were chosen through a competitive process that was open to seniors in Suffolk, Nassau, Queens and Brooklyn, with high school transcripts (minimum GPA of 2.5), letters of recommendation, acceptance at an accredited college or university and 500-word career-goal essays all in the mix. “It really impresses us to … learn about the commitment of these students,” noted LIMEHOF Education Advisory Committee member Paul Graf. “It was exciting to meet them … and learn about their lives and their commitment to music and music education.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 53: Martha Stansbury, small packages.
Small business is the revenue-generating, jobs-producing backbone of regional socioeconomics – and nobody knows this better than Martha Stansbury, director of the Small Business Development Center at Stony Brook.
Martha joins “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” to discuss the immediate and long-term needs of regional entrepreneurs, the challenge of balancing State University mandates with U.S. Small Business Administration directives, and the Stony Brook SBDC’s primary mission: Helping business owners throughout Suffolk County survive and thrive.
TOP OF THE SITE
On Broadway: The former Sears department store at Hicksville’s Broadway Mall has a spectacular new destiny, thanks to a national veterinary laboratory, an ambitious property owner and an ingenious real estate broker.
All the right moves: Keep your entire innovation team at the top of their game – individual subscriptions to Innovate Long Island’s thrice-weekly newsletters are always easy, always free and always the right move.
VOICES
What started as an unassuming U.S. Army training base has evolved into a national laboratory and world-renowned mecca of particle physics with a history of game-changing scientific discovery – as retold by Long Island Bio Executive Director and Voices History Anchor Tom Mariner, who travels through the decades at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
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
Post marks: How to tell if that celebrity social media poster – or a poster you know – is in emotional distress. HuffPost shares the signs.
Post roast: Plans to deny U.S. immigration based on social media posts could restrict political speech for all Americans. The Hill shares concerns.
Past posting? Did the president jump the gun when he announced an Iran-Israel ceasefire on Truth Social? The Jerusalem Post shares Iranian evidence.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ YieldClub, a Washington-based crypto savings app, raised $2.5 million in Pre-Seed funding backed by Pharsalus, Flex Capital, The House Fund and Superlayer.
+ Snowcap Compute, a California-based superconducting technology developer, raised $23 million in Seed funding led by Playground Global.
+ Sifflet, a New York City-based data-observability platform, raised $18 million in funding backed by EQT Ventures and Mangrove Capital Partners.
+ Budderfly, a Connecticut-based energy-as-a-service innovator, received an additional $100 million in debt funding from Nuveen EIC.
+ HydroBlok, a Utah-based manufacturer of waterproof construction panels, raised $6 million in Series A extension funding led by Pier 88 Investment Partners and Andina Capital Partners.
+ Infinity Bio, a Maryland-based biotech focused on immune response, raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Illumina Ventures.
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 (Leftovers Edition)
Bowled over: Drink up! It’s good to the last drop.
Milking it: How “cereal milk” became a million-dollar flavor.
Make it grain: How “spent” residue from beermaking can save the world.
Bad doggies: Food waste surges as fewer people bag their restaurant leftovers.
Nothing left: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Presberg Law, where they leave nothing on the table, nothing in the tank and nothing to chance when it comes to your business transaction. Check them out.
