Brisk pace: It’s Wednesday already, dear readers, as we zip through another busy workweek – and what’s easily the nicest stretch of Long Island weather during this mostly muggy Summer of 2022.
League leader: The (nonprofit) Junior League of Long Island operates one of the Island’s many fantastic thrift shops.
Nonprofit margin: It’s Aug. 17 out there, and we’re here to add a little inspiration to your occupation, starting with the feel-good National Nonprofit Day, an annual round of applause for all those volunteers, staffers and board members propelling the country’s altruistic organizations.
Making a profit – likely a marginal one at best – are the proprietors of the country’s secondhand stores, who’d love to see you on National Thrift Shop Day.
Your luck’s gotta change: And it might seem more appropriate closer to Halloween, but today is also National Black Cat Appreciation Day, crossing your path every Aug. 17. (For those keeping score, black cats were once considered good luck.)
Nothing to fear: Artist’s conception of the Red Planet’s twin satellites.
Moonstruck: Making his own luck was American astronomer Asaph Hall, who discovered the first of Mars’ two moons on this date in 1877.
Hall – who named the potato-shaped moon Phobos, for the Greek god of panic – would soon discover its twin moon, Deimos, which he named for the Greek god of dread.
Sir prize: Slightly more optimistic was newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who introduced a clause in his will on Aug. 17, 1903, bequeathing $1 million to Columbia University – essentially, the birth of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.
To market, to market: Also keeping their eyes on the prize were eight field-to-table farmers who circled their wagons in Seattle 115 years ago today, birthing the famous Pike Place Market.
Start your engines: More into horseless wagons was Ohio-based inventor Charles Kettering, who patented history’s first electric automobile starter on Aug. 17, 1915.
The scenic route: And more into air travel was the three-man crew of the helium balloon Double Eagle II, which touched down near Paris on this date in 1978, completing the first transatlantic balloon flight.
Buffeted by constant crosswinds, the 11-story balloon flew a total of 3,233 miles during a treacherous six-day flight from Presque Island, Maine.
The man, the myth: Crockett, best western.
King of the wild frontier: American folk hero David Crockett (1786-1836) – a soldier, frontiersman and politician who served in the Texas Revolution and represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, among other adventures – would be 236 years old today.
Also born on Aug. 17 were Italian priest, scientist and military-academy instructor Scipione Breislak (1750-1826), a founder of Italian geology; English physician Thomas Hodgkin (1798-1866), who discovered and named a nefarious lymph-tissue disease; American actress, playwright, screenwriter and singer Mary Jane “Mae” West (1893-1980), a bona fide sex symbol whose career spanned seven decades; American chemist and cosmetics executive Hazel Bishop (1906-1998), who invented “kiss-proof lipstick”; and American pop icon Belinda Jo Carlisle (born 1958), a successful solo artist known best as the Go-Go’s frontwoman.
Still raging: And that’s no bull – so take a bow, Robert Anthony De Niro Jr.! The iconic Hollywood award-winner, who won’t travel to France, turns 79 today.
Wish the Goodfella well at editor@innovateli.com, where you don’t need a Taxi Driver to deliver your news tips and your calendar events (including Midnight Runs) always bring the Heat (right out of our Silver Linings Playbook).
About our sponsor: Whether it’s helping in site selection, cutting through red tape or finding innovative ways to meet specific needs, businesses that settle in the Town of Islip soon learn that we take a proactive approach to seeing them succeed. If your business wants to locate or expand in a stable community with great quality of life, then it’s time you took a closer look at Islip.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Elaine Gross: Inclusive innovator.
Summer schooled: From the How I Spent My Summer Vacation File comes the first-ever cohort of high schoolers in ERASE Racism’s Student Leaders for Equity Internship Program, who’ve spent their seasonal break addressing structural racism across Long Island.
Five students representing Bellmore-Merrick, Elwood, Long Beach City, Copiague and Herricks schools engaged in a paid, six-week “summer intensive” at the Syosset-based social-justice organization, studying the forms and effects of structural racism, identifying changes they’d like to make in their schools and developing unique action plans. The four incoming seniors and one incoming junior also learned new communication skills to help them share their goals and ideas with peers and community educators.
The students – all girls – will take everything they’ve learned back to their districts and are scheduled to reconvene several times during the school year to reinforce their individual social-justice missions. “Each Student Leader for Equity brings a passion for racial justice and a unique experience,” noted ERASE Racism President Elaine Gross. “It’s inspiring and rewarding to see them embark on defining their own journeys to advance racial understanding and inclusion.”
Family business: A nationally recognized treatment center is launching a series of innovative family wellness workshops designed to keep families on the same page during difficult addiction-recovery programs.
Consistent with Mountainside Treatment Center’s holistic treatment approach, the free virtual workshops – led by licensed and credentialed clinicians – are designed to share knowledge about the pivotal aspects of recovery and to create a more compassionate experience for clients and their families. The series’ first installment, titled “Family Roles,” is scheduled for 5 p.m. today and aims to help families understand the effects of stress and maintain balance throughout the recovery process.
The public workshops (pre-registration is required) leverage research showing that family involvement in addiction treatment increases entry into treatment programs and promotes better overall outcomes. “Addiction impacts the whole family as a system,” said Mountainside Director of Family Wellness Bruce Dechert. “These workshops are a way of showing our support for those who have provided unconditional love to their family members struggling with addiction.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 24: John Wallace, piling up the good points.
With a fresh slate of brilliant dialogues, Season 3 of “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” is raising the bar on engaging conversation – once again.
Groundbreaking socioeconomic advances, winning growth strategies and lots of laughs, straight from the leaders of the Long Island innovation economy. Another new episode drops next week … but first, you gotta hear this!
TOP OF THE SITE
Third rate: Actually, it’s a first-class improvement for the mass-transit set as the Long Island Rail Road finally opens its long-awaited “Third Track” through Nassau County.
Everyone got it? Make sure your summer interns and new hires are on the list – subscriptions to the indispensable Innovate Long Island newsletter are always easy, always free.
VOICES
Misinformation, intentional and otherwise, is strangling socioeconomic progress. Fortunately, ZE Creative Executive Vice President and Voices media master David Chauvin is here to lambaste the liars, trumpet the truth and otherwise keep it real – another fantastic fact-fest for our formidable Voices library.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Fooled: The U.S. economy is in better shape than we’ve been led to believe. Quartz crunches the numbers.
Schooled: A 17-year-old hobbyist may have re-engineered the EV industry. Smithsonian Magazine checks the designs.
Overruled: Lots of law firms trumpet “legal innovation,” but fewer follow through. Bloomberg Law makes a case.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ FundamentalVR, a Massachusetts-based medical-simulation platform combining virtual reality and haptics, raised $20 million in Series B funding led by EQT Life Sciences and Downing Ventures.
+ Reva Medical, a California-based biotech focused on bioresorbable polymer technologies, closed a $45 million Series B equity financing led by BioStar Capital and other global and existing investors.
+ Nightfall AI, a California-based cybersecurity innovator tackling cloud-based data loss, raised $40 million in Series B funding led by WestBridge Capital, with participation from Next Play Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Venrock, Pear VC, Paul Rudd, Drew Brees and Josh Childress.
+ Data Gumbo, a Texas-based smart-contract solutions provider, closed a $4 million Series C equity funding co-led by Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and Equinor Technology Ventures.
+ Blend360, a Maryland-based consultancy providing data, analytics and talent solutions for Fortune 500 companies, raised $100 million in funding. Recognize made the investment for a minority stake.
+ WiTricity, a Massachusetts-based EV-charging solutions provider, completed a $63 million funding round anchored by a $25 million investment from Siemens AG, with participation from Japan Energy Fund, Mirae Asset Capital and returning investors Stage One, Airwaves Wireless Electricity and Delta Electronics, among others.
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 the Islip IDA). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Back Nine Edition)
Garage-kept by a grandma who only played pitch-and-put on Sundays: What do I have to do to put you in this baby today?
Tech club: Innovation unlocks the perfect golf swing.
Add to cart: Golf carts (!) are the future of transportation.
Now it’s personal: Saudi-backed LIV Golf has shattered the sport’s gentle image.
Way above par: Please continue supporting the amazing organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Town of Islip Office of Economic Development, where they always tee up the client’s best shot at success. Check them out.
