Asking for it: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we plow into the second half of the first full workweek of the New Year.
That appears to be the only plowing we’ll do for a while, with above-average temperatures forecasted across temperate Long Island for the next two weeks. If recent weather history is any guide, we’ll pay for this snowless stretch later – but to start, at least, Winter 2023 ain’t so bad.
Well, toddy da: Try one with scotch, bourbon, rye, Irish whiskey, rum or even cognac — no need to be picky on Hot Toddy Day.
Fair play: In fact, it’s a lovely Jan. 11 out there – a perfect day for International Parity at Work Day, an important reminder about pay equity across genders, races, religions, etc.
Milking it: We’ll raise a glass to equal office rights – choose from family-friendly National Milk Day or slightly stronger National Hot Toddy Day, both filling mugs every Jan. 11.
All it takes is a shilling and a dream: We’ll also toast your good fortune, assuming you won last night’s billion-dollar Mega Millions drawing – either way, lottery tickets became a thing on this date in 1569, when Queen Elizabeth I hatched a plan to fund new ships and ports without raising taxes.
Garbled message: Also punching their tickets on Jan. 11 were co-inventors Alfred Vail and Samuel Morse, who publicly demonstrated their ingenious telegraph machine in 1838 (though some dot-and-dash the debut date as Jan. 6).
Deep thoughts: The Grand Canyon was declared a national monument in 1908.
Made hole: Speaking of grand debuts, President Theodore Roosevelt declared the Grand Canyon a national monument 115 years ago today, sparking the eventual creation of Grand Canyon National Park.
We’d like to thank the academy: Farther west, more to mediate Hollywood labor disputes than to bestow vanity awards, the new Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences was announced on this date in 1927.
On the Go Go: And also in Hollywood, the Whisky a Go Go nightclub – a true cornerstone of the American music scene – opened inside a remodeled bank on Jan. 11, 1964.
Still a-go-going, the nightclub boasts an unlikely dual legacy as America’s first real discotheque and an unparalleled rock ’n’ roll landmark.
Go ask Alice: American suffragist, feminist and women’s rights activist Alice Stokes Paul (1885-1977) – a devout Quaker, impassioned speaker and key architect of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote – would be 138 years old today.
Crenshaw: Putting around.
Also born on Jan. 11 were Founding Father Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), who launched the New York Post, among other things; American environmentalist Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), a major influencer of modern environmental movements; American engineer and inventor Laurens Hammond (1895-1973), a master innovator of organs, clocks and musical synthesizers; Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman (1906-2008), who discovered LSD; and American musician Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (1942-2011), longtime saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.
Gentle Ben: And take a bow, Ben Daniel Crenshaw! The retired American professional golfer – a two-time Masters Tournament champion turned master golf course designer – turns 71 today.
Give the links legend – also ranked among history’s greatest putters – your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we tee up your news tips and your calendar events hit the green every time.
About our sponsor: Northwell Health is New York’s largest healthcare provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, 750 outpatient facilities and 70,000-plus employees. We’re making research breakthroughs at the Feinstein Institutes and training the next generation of medical professionals at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra/Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. Visit Northwell.edu.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Distribution channels: Municipal tax breaks will help answer growing regional warehousing and distribution demands.
The Town of Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency has issued final approvals for an incentives package benefiting Wildflower Ltd., a New York City-based development firm looking to fill 10 vacant acres on National Boulevard in Medford with a 130,000-square-foot industrial structure. The 12-month, $33.8 million project is slated to create a modern warehouse with up to 40 full-time positions, according the IDA, which issued preliminary approvals for the tax breaks in October.
The new distribution center will also fill logistical needs created by the e-retail explosion, according to Town of Brookhaven IDA Chairman Frederick Braun III. “This project will bring warehouse and distribution space with modern specifications such as high ceilings, heavy floor-load capacity, wide column spacing and substantial electric services … that in turn will bring new tenants, perhaps from outside of our immediate area, creating new jobs and economic opportunities,” Braun added.
Sweet rewards: Ying-tao Zhao’s hefty NIH award puts him on the trail of the sugar molecule heparan sulfate.
Sugar on top: Armed with a three-year National Institutes of Health grant, a New York Institute of Technology biologist is setting his sights on a tiny sugar molecule – and some nasty neurological disorders.
Ying-tao Zhao, assistant professor of biomedical sciences in New York Tech’s Old Westbury-based College of Osteopathic Medicine, will leverage $428,400 in NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke funding to better understand the nuances of brain cell function. Specifically, Zhao and colleagues want to decode the sugar molecule heparan sulfate, which coats human cells and is believed to help regulate cell-to-cell signaling.
Heparan sulfate deficiencies and overloads are associated with conditions ranging from autism spectrum disorder to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, but little is known about the molecule’s actual contributions to brain function. “Our research … will fundamentally advance understanding of the role [it] plays in the brain’s signaling pathways,” Zhao noted. “We aim to offer a strong scientific basis to develop new therapies for patients with neurological diseases caused by heparan sulfate irregularities.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 12: Terri Alessi-Miceli, captain of industries.
From the museum to the laboratory, from the classroom to the C-suite, from Main Street to the state capital, Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast goes where the innovators are to share their formative success stories and vital professional lessons.
Learn straight from the source – dozens of entertaining and educational conversations with the leaders of the regional innovation economy are waiting for you right now.
TOP OF THE SITE
Global opportunity: Acquired by a Swedish conglomerate, rough-and-tumble Woodbury computer manufacturer Janam Technologies is just getting started.
Adding muscle: Stony Brook Children’s Hospital has earned rare accreditations in the difficult war against Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Regularly scheduled: You know this is already the second Innovate Long Island newsletter this week, right? The Monday Calendar Newsletter is exclusive to subscribers – fortunately, subscriptions are always easy, always free.
VOICES
Cushman & Wakefield Brokerage and Retail Services Senior Director Melissa Naeder comes out swinging as the newest member of our mighty Voices lineup, a Murderer’s Row of socioeconomic expertise made even stronger by our first-ever commercial real estate insider.
Melissa goes deep on Long Island’s ample (and innovative) supply of retail real estate – not so dead as previously thought, according to our new slugger.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Chat room: Microsoft’s $10 million investment in chatbot creator OpenAI is a shot across Google’s bow. Forbes talks big numbers.
Buyer beware: The cult of consumerism has facilitated an era of crappy products. Vox laments lost quality.
Last “straw”: George Santos’ campaign-donor scheme may be the one lie he can’t escape. Fox News eats its own.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Herself Health, a Minnesota-based health-tech delivering advanced primary care to women over 65, received $7 million in seed funding led by founding partner Juxtapose.
+ PBS Biotech, a California-based single-use bioreactor manufacturer and process-development services provider, raised $22 million in funding led by Avego Management and BroadOak Capital Partners.
+ User Interviews, a New York City-based research and recruiting platform, raised $27.5 million in Series B funding led by Sageview Capital, Teamworthy, Accomplice, Las Olas VC, Trestle Partners, ValueStream, ERA’s Remarkable Ventures and FJ Labs.
+ Blues Wireless, a Massachusetts-based embedded-connectivity startup, raised $32 million in Series A1 funding led by Positive Sum, Four Rivers, Northgate, Qualcomm, Sequoia, Cascade, Lachy Groom and XYZ.
+ Nexus Circular, a Georgia-based recycling innovator, raised $150 million in equity funding led by Cox Enterprises.
+ PreAct Technologies, an Oregon-based developer of LiDAR technology, raised $14 million in Series B funding led by I Squared Capital, State Farm Ventures, Luminate and Traylor Capital.
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 Northwell Health). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Danger In Spaaaaace Edition)
The odds drop: Science estimates a 10 percent chance that falling space junk will kill someone sometime this decade.
Eyes up: More than 19 million pounds of human space trash now orbits Earth.
Safe space: Evolving regulations will redefine private space tourism.
Star-killer: Space really wants you dead.
Terra firma: Please continue supporting the amazing organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including Northwell Health, among Planet Earth’s most innovative and progressive healthcare providers. Check them out.
