Catching up: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we shake off the three-day holiday festivities and stride confidently into the heart of summer – a blazing shot straight through Labor Day (in September!), give or take some personal PTO.
Whatever your summer plans, we’ll keep you in the innovation loop. So, roll up those sleeves and let’s see what’s what.
With some tongue: No, no, no.
Pucker up: It’s July 6 out there, one of our favorites – International Kissing Day, a lip-smacking global event celebrating everything from a peck on the cheek to … well, use your imagination.
It’s also National Fried Chicken Day. We strongly suggest you carefully order your celebrations.
Looking up: Today is also National Air Traffic Control Day, an annual July 6 salute to the massively complex system of technologies and technicians safeguarding U.S. skies.
Screwing up: Speaking of life-or-death stakes, Joan of Arc was retried for heresy on this date in 1456, with a French jury acquitting her on all charges – 25 years after her execution for the alleged crimes.
Ante up: The U.S. dollar was thrown into the international pot on this date in 1785, when the Congress of the Confederation of the United States adopted the young nation’s standard currency unit.
For those keeping score, the dollar bill as we know it was first printed in 1914 – and it’s been the global economy’s primary reserve currency since 1944.
To the editor: Jesse James, opinionated outlaw.
Stick ’em up: Actually, the pen proved mightier than the pistol on July 6, 1875, when “accomplished outlaw” Jesse James published a (grammatically challenged but thorough) defense of his alleged misdeeds in a letter to the editor of Nashville’s Republican Banner newspaper.
Drink up: “Milkshakes” became a thing on July 6, 1886, when a Wisconsin dairy sold what history records as the first-ever malted-milk beverages.
Bundle up: And it was this date in 1908 when the expedition that carried famed explorer Robert Peary and his crew to the North Pole set sail from New York City.
The intrepid adventurers finally reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909 … or did they?
The Merv of some people: American television host and media mogul Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (1925-2007) – a renowned Hollywood producer, versatile stage-and-screen performer and legendary talk-show host – would be 97 years old today.
Hello, Dalai: Lhamo Thondup, the 14th Dalai Lama, was born 87 years ago today.
Also born on July 6 were American-British electrical engineer Sidney Brown (1873-1948), a patent-generating machine who significantly advanced radios and telescopes; American engineer Otto Rohwedder (1880-1960), who invented what many consider the literally greatest thing; iconic American rocker Bill Haley (1925-1981), who launched a genre with The Comets; American actress Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Morrison, 1927-2004), a multitalented artist who did a lot more than die in some psycho’s shower; and 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush (born 1946), arguably more successful as an exemplary ex-president.
Like buddha: And take a bow, Lhamo Thondup! The Tibetan Buddhist monk anointed the 14th (and current) Dalai Lama – spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, who know him best as Gyalwa Rinpoche – turns 87 today.
Wish his holiness well at editor@innovateli.com, where he’s a big hitter, the lama, and we’ve got the total consciousness of your news tips and calendar events going for us, which is nice.
About our sponsor: Farrell Fritz, a full-service law firm with 15 practice groups, advises startups on entity formation, founder and shareholder agreements, funding, executive compensation and benefits, licensing and technology transfer, mergers and acquisitions and other strategic transactions. The firm’s blog, New York Venture Hub, discusses legal and business issues facing entrepreneurs and investors.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Healthy environment: Northwell Health has doubled down on climate change – err, doubly.
Does that mean they’ve actually quadrupled down? We don’t know. But we do know the New Hyde Park-based health system has announced its membership on the Health Care Climate Council, founded in 2014 by Virginia-based international nonprofit Health Care Without Harm, and simultaneously signed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Care Sector Pledge, which advocates the decarbonization of the national healthcare industry.
Both membership on the Climate Council (joining top nationwide healthcare systems on a comprehensive carbon-reduction mission) and taking the Health Care Sector Pledge (along with other healthcare leaders at a June 30 White House event) highlight Northwell’s commitment to do the right thing for the environment, according to Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling. “The reality is that community health is a long game that requires strategic thinking and investments with an eye to the future,” Dowling said. “Northwell Health has pledged to root out health disparities of all types – and that includes addressing our own impacts on the climate.”
On her way: Former New York State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (right) and his daughter, Vikki, at the Ellen’s Way opening.
This is the way: A retired New York State Assemblyman is helping to show Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital the way to the future. Actually, his late wife is.
Harvey Weisenberg, who represented his hometown Long Beach on the State Assembly from 1989 to 2014, has donated $50,000 to the Oceanside flagship of the New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System, which has rechristened the Long Beach Emergency Department’s triage area as The Harvey and Ellen Weisenberg Triage Area (known affectionately as “Ellen’s Way”). The donation will also support Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Long Beach Medical Arts Pavilion, scheduled to bring a variety of specialty medical services to the Nassau County barrier island next summer.
His wife, who “dedicated her life to helping others as a nurse,” would be proud of the service Mount Sinai South Nassau provides Long Beach residents, according to the longtime assemblyman, and thrilled with Ellen’s Way. “Ellen always had a desire to help people and care for them,” Weisenberg noted. “In her memory, I continue to work tirelessly with the hospital to make sure my community has access to the best care.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 24: John Wallace, all drive.
Season 3 of “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” is off to a flying start with longtime energy-industry leader Robert Catell, a major-league influencer and true icon of Long Island socioeconomics.
Another engaging and entertaining first-run episode drops next week – until then, learn useful lessons from the top, straight from Bob and 24 other master innovators.
TOP OF THE SITE
Single-minded: A Swiss biotech’s next-generation technology has put a Stony Brook University laboratory on the cutting edge of crucial single-cell analysis.
Where credit is due: Eligible small businesses that incurred significant COVID-related expenses may qualify for up to $25,000 in New York State tax credits.
Sign(up) of the times: Innovation moves at the speed of thought these days. Fortunately, this fantastic e-newsletter has it paced – and subscriptions are always easy and always free.
VOICES
Executive Vice President David Chauvin of ZE Creative Communications is sorry, not sorry – not when apologies are apocalyptically arduous for clearly off-beam celebrities and corporations, and the coverups so often outweigh the crimes. Our Voices media master extolls the rep-restoring virtues of early and honest remorse.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Within sight: A California biotech is targeting leading causes of blindness with its “bispecific antibody technology.” Forbes looks in.
Too close for comfort: With fewer levels between execs and employees, “agile” team structures may be stifling innovation. Fortune shows dexterity.
Safe to go back in the water: Despite two shark attacks in three days, science says there’s nothing to fear in Long Island waters. The Guardian dives in.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Sensible Care, a California-based online behavioral-health company, raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Volition Capital and Skyline Investors.
+ April Tax Solutions, a New York City-based personal income-tax platform for digital-finance apps, raised $30 million in Series A funding led by Treasury, QED, Nyca Partners, Team8, Euclidean Capital and Atento Capital.
+ Cleartrace, a Texas-based carbon- and energy-management software maker, raised $20 million in funding led by ClearSky, Brookfield Renewable, EDF Energy North America, Tenaska and Exelon.
+ AlgiKnit, a North Carolina-based materials innovator creating yarn from kelp, raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Collaborative Fund, with participation from H&M CO:LAB, Starlight Ventures, Third Nature Ventures, Horizons Ventures and SOSV.
+ Cerebral Therapeutics, a Colorado-based clinical-stage biopharma, raised $40 million in Series C funding led by Lynx1 Capital Management, Capital Management, Perceptive Advisors, Vivo Capital and Granite Point Capital Management.
+ Coding Dojo, a Washington State-based global ed-tech, secured $10 million in non-dilutive venture debt financing from Eastward Capital Partners.
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 Farrell Fritz). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Staycation Edition)
King maker: I Know What You’ll Read This Summer, by Stephen King.
A good book: Stephen King recommends his ten favorite novels.
A picnic lunch: Wouldn’t be complete without the perfect potato salad.
Fun and games: Tons of summer toys for youthful backyard adventures.
Rest easy: Whether you’re staying or going, enjoy your downtime knowing Farrell Fritz – one of the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island – has your business interests covered. Check them out.
