School’s open! (See you next week): Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and not just any Wednesday but the first Wednesday of September – and the first day of the 2026-27 school year for most students on Long Island and beyond.
Yes, the start of the new month means the unofficial end of Summer and the absolute end of Summer vacation – though most schools (and many businesses) will be closed this Friday and Monday to observe the Labor Day holiday.
That includes Innovate Long Island – so please enjoy this hump-hopping newsletter, then relax while we recharge. We’ll be back on schedule starting Tuesday.
Piercing gaze: There’s a hole lot happening on National Pierce Your Ears Day.
Hire calling: Today is Sept. 2 and we’re applying first to Global Talent Acquisition Day, when we honor the headhunters, recruiters and other HR professionals who collect résumés, check backgrounds, conduct interviews and otherwise zero in on the best professional fits – an invaluable contribution to the success of startups, established companies and the ever-evolving innovation economy as a whole.
Also cutting through the clutter – at least, the cartilage – is National Pierce Your Ears Day, less a call to action than a salute to the culturally significant traditions surrounding ear piercings and other body modifications.
Are you nuts? (Yes, actually): We unofficially end Summer with a slightly scattershot holiday menu, starting with World Coconut Day, an homage to the surprisingly versatile tropical foodstuff – which, for those keeping score, technically qualifies as a seed, a nut and a fruit.
Also slightly nutty are National Grits For Breakfast Day (“Yuck,” says Mrs. Z) and National Blueberry Popsicle Day (“Why is that even a thing?” she asks). We have no answers, other than noting that both are served on Sept. 2.
Treasury map: Also somewhat crazed (with good cause) were angry Americans protesting the complete devaluation of the more than $240 million in Continental Dollars still in circulation at the time, resulting the creation of the U.S. Treasury Department on this date in 1789.
Aloha: Gas lighting – not gaslighting, as in “a lot of people are saying I’m one of the greatest Presidents ever,” but gas lighting, as in, burning natural gas to make light – became a thing in Hawaii on Sept. 2, 1859. (Or did it?)
Soft opening: Soon-to-be President Teddy Roosevelt laid out his foreign policy at the 1901 Minnesota State Fair.
Stick figure: Turning to Presidents with a firmer grasp on reality, then-U.S. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt – who’d be promoted just two weeks later – introduced his “speak softly and carry a big stick” foreign policy on this date in 1901.
Long story: Also championing truth (and a distinctive plainspokenness) was the immortal Walter Cronkite, who was behind the anchor’s desk 61 years ago tonight, when the “CBS Evening News” expanded from 15 to 30 minutes – the first network news show to adopt the half-hour format.
Let’s make a deal … in spaaaaace: And it was Sept. 2, 1993, when U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin inked an agreement that would see the world’s largest superpowers work together on space exploration for the first time.
The deal focused primarily on the investment of money and materials in the International Space Station, with the first components blasted into orbit just five years later.
Reaching for the stars: American schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986) – who simultaneously made joyous and tragic history as a member of the doomed Space Shuttle Challenger crew – would be 78 years old today.
Making a racket: Along with fierce arch-rival John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors energized what was long considered a gentleman’s game.
Also born on Sept. 2 were American baseball player and businessman Albert Spalding (1850-1915), a middling pitcher but all-star entrepreneur who made his name as a sultan of sporting goods; American radio pioneer and engineer Hiram Maxim (1869-1936), who co-founded the American Radio Relay League but achieved immortality by keeping things quiet – specifically, by inventing the internal-combustion engine muffler and the firearms silencer; American businessman William Harrah (1911-1978), the gaming industry titan who founded Harrah’s Hotels and Casinos (now part of Caesars Entertainment Corp.); Hungarian American businessman and engineer Andrew Grove (1936-2016), a co-founder and longtime president/CEO/chairman of the Intel Corp.; and Canadian actor and musician Keanu Reeves (born 1964), who was born in Lebanon, given a Hawaiian name (“Cool Breeze Over the Mountains”) and raised in Toronto, en route to global stardom.
The Cinderfella of Tennis: And take a bow, James Scott “Jimmy” Connors! The American author, commentator, coach and retired tennis professional – a bombastic Hall-of-Famer who captured eight major singles championships and spent 268 weeks as No. 1 in the Association of Tennis Professionals’ men’s singles rankings – turns 74 today.
Send (backhand) compliments for the Brash Basher of Belleville to editor@innovateli.com, where our net gains rely heavily on your news tips – and your calendar events always bring us to match point.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Fine China: Add a major Chinese lifestyle retailer to the growing roster of international offerings moving into the sprawling Green Acres retail complex.
The Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency has approved a lease deal that will allow Guangzhou-based retailer Miniso – which operates 7,800 stores globally, including 330 in the United States – to open its first Long Island store at the Valley Stream-based Green Acres Commons, which sits adjacent to the Green Acres Mall. Terms of the deal were undisclosed and no official opening date for the 7,200-square-foot store has been announced, but the Hempstead IDA did note the eventual opening will create eight new full-time-equivalent jobs.
The new tenant continues the leasing momentum at the resurgent Green Acres complex, with Greek restaurant chain Cava Mezze, Las Vegas-based scent seller Perfumes 4U, New York City-based clothing retailer Clique Apparel, Florida-based escape-room enterprise Escapology and other large and small retailers signing recent lease deals. “These new concepts that are locating in Green Acres Commons and Green Acres Mall validate our investment in these shopping centers,” noted Hempstead Industrial Development Agency CEO Fred Parola.
Future pros: The man behind Long Island’s largest youth-sports organization is bringing professional soccer to the Island.
Kicking in: This just in to the Innovate Long Island Sports Desk: The nation’s largest professional soccer organization is coming to town.
With North America hosting this Summer’s globally ginormous FIFA World Cup tournament, U.S. soccer fever is at an all-time high, and nowhere is that more evident than on Long Island, where excitement is building around USL Long Island – a new club owned by Glenn Schneider, former CEO of U.S. nutrition at the Ronkonkoma-based Nature’s Bounty vitamin company. USL Long Island has been awarded a United Soccer League franchise and plans to launch a professional men’s team in USL League One in 2028, pending final league and federation sanctioning approvals.
The USL franchise is a “real full-circle moment” for Schneider, who is also founder and CEO of SUSA FC, which services 5,000-plus players to reign as Long Island’s largest academy soccer club. “(Soccer is) about people and creating connection, belonging and community,” the team owner noted. “That’s the culture we’re building at USL Long Island … today we’re announcing a professional soccer club, but what we’re really building is a home.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Settle in: Fair Media Council CEO Jaci Clement reviews Meta’s $18 billion court settlement – and explains why the changes being forced upon platforms like Facebook, Instagram and X are much more important than the hefty financial penalty.
Easy does it: It’s easy math – the more newsletter subscribers we have, the easier it is to sign new sponsors, and the more new sponsors we sign, the easier it is to keep producing these amazing newsletters. Subscriptions are always easy, always free … and always the right move for your entire innovation team!
VOICES
Long Island Bio Executive Director and Voices History Anchor Tom Mariner travels through time with the innovative and influential Curtiss-Wright Corp., a mainstay of Long Island manufacturing and, according to the Voices history anchor, a textbook example of the importance of keeping up with the changing times.
STUFF WE’RE READING
En-gulfed: Embracing energy transition and climate change, the Gulf of Mexico region emerges as the next U.S. innovation hotbed. Entrepreneur heads south.
Back(pack) to the future: Back-to-school means back-to-backpacks – and to a science that’s been evolving for 200 years. Smithsonian Magazine packs it in.
Something to chew on: How (and why) food-structure scientists are beefing up peas, beans and lentils. Phys.org puts the meat before the salad.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Molten Salt Solutions, a New Mexico-based provider of enriched stable isotopes for fusion and the advanced nuclear market, raised $7 million in Seed funding led by Dolby Family Ventures, with participation from Vanedge Capital Partners, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, True Ventures and Future Ventures.
+ Atorie, a California-based, AI-powered luxury fashion and consumer marketplace, raised $9.5 million in Seed funding led by a16z speedrun, Night Capital and Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners.
+ Lone Palm Labs, a California-based provider of a photo-sharing and consumer-focused social platform, raised $21 million-plus in Series A funding led by Thrive Capital, Scribble Ventures, BoxGroup, Imaginary Ventures, Coalition, Conviction, Copper, Positive Sum, Uncommon Projects and Figma CEO Dylan Field.
+ CivilGrid, a California-based civil-design platform, raised $26 million in Series A funding led by Spark Capital, with participation from Energy Impact Partners, Afore Capital, A*, Ford Street Ventures and SNR Ventures.
+ EIT Pharma, a Washington State-based biotech developing therapies for infectious diseases, raised $35 million in Series A funding led by Propel Bio Partners, with participation from Good Ventures and Arrowtown.
+ Owner, a California-based, AI-powered technology and marketing platform for local businesses, raised $240 million in funding led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with participation from Meritech, Redpoint, Headline and Jack Altman.
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 ZE Creative Communications). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Lake Ontario Edition)
Don’t you have bigger things to worry about?: Yes, he does.
Lake sure: Renaming Lake Ontario is petty, ignorant … and downright illegal.
Weapon of mass distraction: But Iran, failed trade wars and the Epstein files aren’t going away.
Right direction: MapQuest downloads surge after the veteran navigation service refuses name change.
What’s in a name? Well, when the name is “ZE Creative Communications” – one of the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island – it’s an ironclad promise that decades of unparalleled expertise will be focused on every PR and marketing endeavor. Check them out.
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