Super duper! Welcome to Friday, intrepid innovators! You’ve conquered another Winter workweek and earned yourself another big weekend – a supersized weekend, in fact.
Covering the spread: Super Bowl LX will make a fortune, and not just in the Bay Area — at least, on Sunday.
As you may know, Super Bowl LX is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday, with all the quasi-political family-type drama you’d expect from an all-American holiday.
Speaking socioeconomically, there’s no shortage of studies showing how much monetary positivity the Big Game generates – $8 million per 30-second commercial slot this year, $630 million in economic activity just for the California Bay Area, which hosts the NFL’s 2026 title tilt – but much more interesting is the projected $5.2 billion hit U.S. productivity will take on Monday, with more than 26 million Americans expected to call out sick.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, sports fans: Super Bowl Monday should be a national holiday, with PTO, “Super” sales and all the rest. Why lose productivity when you can plan around it – and the nation can generate extra billions in “holiday” revenues? Synchronize the holiday with collegiate and scholastic winter breaks, and you’re off to the races.
Recess therapy: Speaking of seasonal breaks, this just in from Innovation Command: Your favorite innovation-news network is taking a quick Winter Recess later this month.
Expect loads of new website content throughout next week and enjoy your educational and entertaining newsletters on Feb. 9, 11 and 13, then chill out while we cool our jets. We’ll return Feb. 23 with your regularly scheduled Monday Calendar Newsletter. More reminders next week.
Turning red: Back here on Feb. 6, we kick off your week-in-innovation review with National Wear Red Day, a crucial component of National Heart Month and unflinching reminder that cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of American women.
We’re also saluting National Working Naked Day, which does not encourage us to wear red clothing, or any other color.
You’ve been chopped: Whether you’re a study in scarlet or favoring skin tones today, Feb. 6 comes with plenty to eat – take your pick of Asian fare on National Chopsticks Day (honoring the 3,200-year-old Chinese utensils) and top it off with National Frozen Yogurt Day (savoring the slightly healthier ice cream stand-in).
Mass. effect: We doubt they celebrated with froyo, but Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on this date in 1788, marking a major victory for the fledgling U.S. government.
Currents event: Also not hitting the local TCBY to celebrate was Serbian American futurist Nikola Tesla, who scored a major U.S. patent – for his Apparatus for Generating Electric Currents – on Feb. 6, 1894.
All caps: Likely popping some celebratory corks (or perhaps not) on that very same day in 1894 was Maryland-based inventor William Painter, who patented the bottle opener.
Come together: Kilby’s integrated circuit changed everything.
Integration initiation: Other electrifying IP associated with this date includes the integrated circuit, which Texas Instruments engineer/Nobel Prize laureate Jack Kilby filed to patent 67 years ago today. (For the record, it would take more than five years for the patent to be granted.)
And not a single pilot canceled: And it was Feb. 6, 1998, when Washington National Airport was officially renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, honoring the last great conservative president.
Why did President Bill Clinton choose Feb. 6 to sign the law renaming the Virginia airport? Well, probably because…
Legacy: American politician, actor and sports announcer Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004) – the two-term governor of California and 40th President of the United States, who was not a perfect man but ranks among America’s most popular leaders, credited with ending the Cold War, fostering an extended economic boom and rebuilding American morale – would be 115 years old today.
Jamaican some good points: Marley’s unique combination of Reggae, Ska and Rocksteady spread peace, love and social justice around the world.
Also born on Feb. 6 were Swiss civil engineer Robert Maillart (1872-1940), who reinforced – and revolutionized – masonry arch bridge design; American baseball icon George Herman “Babe” Ruth Jr. (1895-1948), a titanic performer rightfully named among history’s most famous athletes; Kenyan archaeologist and paleoanthropologist Mary Douglas Leakey (1913-1996), whose fossil discoveries helped define human evolution; American author and retired network television journalist Tom Brokaw (born 1940), still hanging in there against a rare blood cancer; and Jamaican singer, musician and songwriter Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley (1945-1981), the Reggae standout who became a global cultural icon.
We’ve known each other for so long: And take a bow, Richard Paul “Rick” Astley! The English singer, songwriter, podcaster and DJ – a popular performer whose debut album sold more than 15 million global copies, but is still known best for the “Rickrolling” phenomenon – turns 60 years old today.
Send birthday wishes to the Man of Thousand Memes at editor@innovateli.com, where She Wants We Want to Dance with your news tips and It Would Take a Strong Strong Man to resist your calendar events. Never gonna give you up!
About our sponsor: Family & Children’s Association is here for every Long Islander – ages 2 to 102 – facing social, emotional or economic challenges. Whether it’s mental-health support, help with substance use or gambling, or programs that protect and empower our seniors, FCA offers a wide range of services designed to strengthen individuals, families and communities. Our mission is simple: to make Long Island a healthier, safer and more compassionate place to live, work and raise a family.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Clean sweep: With Sunrise Wind rising again, all five of the clean-energy projects stopped by President Trump in December are back in business.
Five revived: Another day, another federal judge smacking aside the Trump Administration’s lawless attempts to squash offshore-wind power.
Senior Judge Royce Charles Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Monday that construction can resume on Sunrise Wind, Danish energy giant Ørsted’s 924-megawatt offshore farm rising 30 miles east of Montauk Point. Self-billed as “America’s largest offshore wind farm,” Sunrise Wind – which promises enough renewable energy to power 600,000 homes – was one of five projects stymied Dec. 22, when President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending federal leases for all under-construction offshore-wind projects, citing unspecified national security risks.
Lamberth’s latest ruling – the fifth straight offshore-wind defeat for Trump – mirrored the judge’s Jan. 22 decision, in which he allowed work to resume on Revolution Wind, Ørsted’s 704-MW farm in the waters off Rhode Island, because the president failed to make any kind of national-security case. Governor Kathy Hochul praised the Sunrise Wind decision, noting it “puts union workers back on the job, keeps billions in private investment in New York and delivers the clean, reliable power our grid needs.”
Bond rating: A comprehensive Adelphi University capital-improvements project has received an important economic boost.
The Town of Hempstead Local Development Corp. – which provides low-interest, tax-exempt bonds to Hempstead-based nonprofit, educational, healthcare and civic organizations – voted Jan. 27 to sell up to $125 million in tax-exempt bonds on behalf of the university. The bonds, underwritten by Texas-based Hilltop Securities, will fund a range of capital-improvement projects across the 75-acre Garden City campus, including athletic field replacements, data center upgrades, HVAC improvements and more.
Adelphi may also use some of the proceeds to refund all or part of outstanding revenue bonds sold in 2013 and 2014 (the combined current outstanding principals exceed $56 million, according to the Hempstead LDC), with the new bonds to be ultimately repaid by the university with no out-of-pocket expense to Town of Hempstead taxpayers. “There is no doubt that the sale of these new bonds will benefit Adelphi University [and] its students and have a positive impact on the economics of the surrounding communities,” noted Hempstead LDC Executive Director Fred Parola.
TOP OF THE SITE
Talking the talk: The Debrief catches up with media queen Donna Drake, whose relentlessly positive talk show continues to charm new international markets – and whose Melville production studio is increasingly charming corporate interests.
Calendar invite: The 2026 business-networking season is ramping up fast! Stay a step ahead with the subscriber-only Innovate Long Island Monday Calendar Newsletter – all the entrepreneurial intel, all the inventive fun, plus loads of business-building opportunities on the Island and beyond. Always easy, always free.
ICYMI
They’re partying with purpose at the Feinstein Institutes, where a new research center is dishing out government-regulated drugs and drinks to help scientists unlock new mental-health therapies.
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 California: Palo Alto-based skills-development director Workera meets U.S. Space Force training and verification protocols with new AI-powered intelligence platform.
From Wisconsin: River Falls-based citrus-fiber forerunner Fiberstar rescues domestic beverage makers from geopolitical instability with natural acacia gum alternative.
From California: San Jose-based carbon-conversion king Savor injects custom-designed lipids into clean, sustainable Personal Care & Beauty Division.
ON THE MOVE
Shaan Khan
+ Shaan Khan has been elected president of the Board of Directors of the Long Island Board of Realtors. He is the owner of RK Realty Group in Melville.
+ The Melville-based Long Island Water Conference has announced its annual slate of officers:
- Brendan Warner has been elected chairman of the Board of Directors. He is director of construction and maintenance at the Suffolk County Water Authority.
- Kevin Reilly has been elected vice chairman of the Board of Directors. He is superintendent of the Massapequa Water District.
- Christopher Tobin has been elected second vice chairman of the Board of Directors. He is assistant superintendent of the Garden City Park Water District.
- Theresa Black has been elected secretary of the Board of Directors. She is commissioner of the Bethpage Water District.
+ Corinne Hammons has been elected chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Health & Welfare Council of Long Island. She is president and chief executive officer of Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York in Wading River.
+ Mineola-based Keats Insurance Agencies has announced several promotions:
- Ron Keats has been promoted to chief executive officer. He was president.
- John Keats has been promoted to president. He was vice president.
- Christopher Keats has been promoted to chief operating officer. He was operations manager.
+ Jacqueline Boudreau has joined East Meadow-based Certilman Balin as an Associate in the Litigation and Land Use & Zoning practice groups. She was an assistant district attorney in Manhattan.
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 – on Long Island, and soon, across New York State (just ask the FCA). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Super Bowl LX Edition)
All-Madden team: Digital Sam Darnold drops back in the faux Super Bowl.
That’s final: The Madden NFL videogame franchise plays it out: Seahawks 23, Patriots 20.
Distancing himself: No, the president isn’t skipping the Big Game because it’s “too far away.”
Spoiler alert: This year’s biggest and best Super Bowl commercials are already online.
Just super: Please continue supporting the outstanding organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Family & Children’s Association, where the societal support is always super, hearts are always big and mental health is no game Check them out.
