Cold start: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and not just any Wednesday but the very first day of winter, which officially begins in our beautiful Northern Hemisphere at 4:48 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today.
That means it’s Dec. 21 out there, and of course we’re all very busy so we’ll get right to it – after this quick reminder that Innovate Long Island is going home for the holidays next week, so please expect your regularly scheduled newsletter this Friday, and then we’ll be back with new awesomeness Jan. 3.
Short version: A day for the diminutive.
Warming to it: As for today, the awesomeness knows no bounds – the traditional Germanic festival known originally as Yuletide is here (progenitor of the 12 days of Christmas, Yule logs, etc.), as are National Flashlight Day, National Look at the Bright Side Day, National French Fried Shrimp Day, National Kiwi Fruit Day, National Ribbon Candy Day and National Coquito Day, celebrating the warm Puerto Rican spirit (mmmm, mmmm bueno).
For shorter attention spans, today’s Winter Solstice also heralds National Short Story Day (under 4,000 words, please) and National Short Girl Appreciation Day (under 5’4”, thank you).
Gifted: Jokes aside, today is also National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, an annual reminder that whomever and whatever you have this holiday season, it’s way more than some.
He shoots, he scores: From hard times to the hardwoods, where we find School for Christian Workers Professor James Naismith inventing basketball on this date in 1891.
Radiating love: From the gym to the lab, where we find iconic science sweethearts Marie and Pierre Curie discovering radium on this date in 1898.
Word up: Wynne’s invention was an instant winner.
Cross purposes: From the science journals to the New York World newspaper, where we find the first-ever crossword puzzle – creator Arthur Wynne’s “Word-Cross” – debuting in the Dec. 21, 1913, Sunday Fun section.
Christmas in spaaaaace: From New York to the Moon, destination of NASA’s Apollo 8 mission, which blasted off 54 years ago today – the first human spaceflight to reach the rocky satellite, featuring 10 successful lunar orbits and holiday messages from space.
Sealed fate: And from the final frontier to the kitchen, where we find “inventors” David Geske and Len Kretchman patenting the peanut butter and jelly sandwich – no, really – on this date in 1999.
The duo’s “innovation” updated the classic by sealing the crustless bread around the edges – a quantum leap soon unleashed upon an unsuspecting world as kid-friendly “Uncrustables.”
Underdog story: American film director John Guilbert Avildsen (1935-2017) – who matched cardiac-challenging thrillers with heartwarming comeback classics like “Rocky,” “The Karate Kid” and “Lean on Me” – would be 87 years old today.
Schtick and move: Lightning-rod actress/activist Jane Fonda has occupied many levels of public consciousness.
Also born on Dec. 21 were American sanitary engineer George Fuller (1868-1934), who modernized wastewater treatment; American geneticist Sewall Wright (1889-1988), a population genetics pioneer; British engineer Francis Thomas Bacon (1904-1992), who ushered in hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells; American media personality, writer and producer Phillip John Donahue (born 1935), who broke the mold with “The Phil Donahue Show”; and American actress and activist Jane Seymour Fonda (born 1937), who mastered comedy, drama, infomercials and left-wing politics.
Fury-ous pace: And take a bow, Samuel Leroy Jackson! The prolific American actor – history’s most bankable thespian, with more than $250 million in personal wealth and upwards of $28 billion in combined box-office receipts – turns 74 today.
Wish Coach Carter well at editor@innovateli.com, where you can give us the Shaft or get in the Frozone with some news tips – and your calendar events are the Windu beneath our wings. (Seriously, we could do this all day … the dude’s got almost 200 acting credits!)
About our sponsor: Whether it’s helping with 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
Plan A: Albany is backing Catholic Health of Long Island’s “energy master plan.”
The Rockville Centre-based health system’s carbon-footprint strategy is one of 10 “regionally significant” projects sharing $12 million in fresh New York State Energy Research and Development Authority awards. The projects – including the net-zero conversion of a circa-1960s Downtown Troy office building, a shift to clean-gen power at the historic City of Cohoes Music Hall and the creation of the City of Rochester’s new Maplewood Nature Center – all support Albany’s ultimate goal of reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2050.
Issued through NYSERDA’s Carbon Neutral Community Economic Development Program, the competitive award is a big boost for Catholic Health, which boasts six hospitals and three nursing homes (as well as regional homecare offices and hospice facilities) and is planning baseline energy-use analyses, new-tech explorations and numerous grant/incentive program applications. “NYSERDA is pleased to support projects … showcasing energy efficiency, electrification and the use of on-site renewable energy,” noted NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris.
Corner market: Soon-to-be-Manhattan-based Pandora is promising new stores across Greater New York.
Plan B: From the Rich Get Richer File comes jewelry giant Pandora, which is relocating its American headquarters to Midtown Manhattan.
The currently Baltimore-based retailer will occupy a 27,000-square-foot space at 1540 Broadway – that’s Times Square, for you country folk – beginning in 2023. Lured by $1.5 million in performance-based Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits, the bejeweled business promises to create 130-plus new positions in sales, marketing, real estate and other key departments, with new stores in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens coming soon.
While the outer boroughs are technically on Long Island, the move doesn’t directly benefit LI, though bringing Pandora – which does operate six locations across Nassau and Suffolk – to NYC is a regional socioeconomic victory, according to Empire State Development President and CEO Hope Knight. “Pandora’s move … speaks to the strength and talent of the region’s retail industry and workforce,” Knight noted. “Their new North American headquarters … will add new jobs and economic energy to the retail capital of the world.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 34: Ernie Canadeo, toasting music history.
From Studio 54’s chemically enhanced heights to the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame’s spectacular new Stony Brook home, Ernie Canadeo has promoted (and partied with) the best of them – and that doesn’t even include his world-class advertising agency.
The EGC Group CEO and LIMEHOF chairman joins Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast to review his meteoric marketing rise, reveal the secrets of the “Crushies” and explain exactly how he wound up with The Kinks guitarist’s amplifier.
TOP OF THE SITE
Brain gain: Mapping neurons and advancing AI is just the beginning at the $57 million Neuroscience Research Complex, coming soon to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Regional revitalization: Progress in North Hempstead, Amityville and Riverhead marks a big day for LI workforce housing, blight removal and downtown redevelopment.
Makes a great gift: Last-minute stocking stuffer for your entire innovation team? Right here, baby – Innovate Long Island newsletters are always packed with creativity and good business advice, and subscriptions are always easy, always free.
VOICES
Voices nonprofits anchor Jeffrey Reynolds, president and CEO of the Garden City-based Family and Children’s Association, blasts New York City for its decades-long homelessness problem – and skewers Mayor Eric Adams for his shortsighted “solution.”
STUFF WE’RE READING
Milking it: How a single mom made her dairy-farm dream come true. Wisconsin State Farmer’s one maid a milking.
He who laughs last: His followers are gullible and the photos may be stolen, but Trump’s NFTs are pure manna from MAGA. Salon counts golden rings.
By the dozen: A 1780 children’s verse? A coded Christianity primer? The surprisingly true story of Christmas’ most expensive carol. Vox in a pear tree.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Enlaza Therapeutics, a California-based covalent biologics company, raised $61 million in seed financing led by Avalon Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Frazier Life Sciences and Samsara BioCapital.
+ Vizabli, an Ohio-based med-tech providing touchscreen smartboards and mobile applications for hospitals, raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by Lone Star Communications.
+ Arcadia, a Washington-based climate-tech innovator, raised $125 million in funding led by Magnetar Capital, Keyframe Capital and Macquarie Asset Management’s Green Investment Group.
+ Group14 Technologies, a Washington State-based manufacturer of advanced silicon-battery technology, raised $214 million in additional financing. Backers included Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Lightrock Climate Impact Fund, Moore Strategic Ventures, Oman Investment Authority and Molicel.
+ Synchron, a New York City-based med-tech focused on endovascular brain-computer interfaces, raised $75 million in Series C funding led by ARCH Venture Partners, Gates Frontier, Bezos Expeditions, Reliance Digital Health Limited, Greenoaks, Alumni Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures and Project X.
+ BrightSpec, a Virginia-based life-science tools innovator, raised $18.4 million in Series C funding led by Genoa Ventures, Arboretum Ventures, Medvest Capital, Felton Group and the UVA Seed Fund.
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 Town of Islip). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Yule Thank Us Later Edition)
Joy to the world: Simplicity, familiarity and predictability are all part of the feel-good formula.
Classical comforts: Science explains why holiday movies make us feel good.
Fruity as a nutcake: Behold, history’s most maligned (and re-gifted) dessert.
Hall pass: How to live your own Hallmark Christmas Movie.
What a bright time: Please continue supporting the amazing organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Town of Islip Office of Economic Development, where it’s always the right time for entrepreneurial support. Check them out.
