Holiday in (express): Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we rush our way through the week before Thanksgiving week (and its blessed four-day blow, at least for most American workers).
With that, this reminder from Innovation Central: Your favorite socioeconomic newsletter is talking turkey all next week (which, in this case, means not talking at all). Please watch for this Friday’s week-wrapping edition, then enjoy your holiday break with family and friends – Innovate Long Island will return Dec. 2 with your regularly scheduled Monday Calendar Newsletter and other awesomesauce (perfect for holiday leftovers). Another reminder Friday.
Generational gap: On World Children’s Day, consider whether the decisions we make are best for ourselves in the short term — or best for them in the long term.
Child’s play: Today is Nov. 20, and as we hurdle the hump we pause to embrace World Children’s Day, the United Nations’ annual celebration of the human family’s youngest members – with a bright spotlight on their rights and challenges, especially critical with all the gloomy uncertainty ahead.
Flipping that coin, we note National Pay Back Your Parents Day, when younger generations make reparations for Mom and Dad’s boundless sacrifices.
Aw, fudge: If that seems unlikely, well, it tracks – today is also National Absurdity Day, when the wild and whacky set the tone.
On the more sensible side, you’ll definitely find decadent desserts waiting on National Peanut Butter Fudge Day, creamy and nutty and delicious every Nov. 20 (and easier to make than chocolate fudge, for those keeping score).
Rights: Also fairly certain were the New Jersey lawmakers who became the first to ratify the Bill of Rights – the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution – on this date in 1789. (For the record, the Garden State delegation ratified 11 of 12 proposed amendments, including the 10 that made the final cut).
Exit, stage left: Less certain was virtuoso composer Ludwig van Beethoven, at least when his first-and-only opera – which he titled “Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love” – premiered in Vienna on Nov. 20, 1805. (Renamed “Fidelio” by theater managers, the opera failed miserably but would be hailed as a masterpiece when it returned after a decade of significant rewrites).
Left Russia behind: The Ukrainian National Republic was first proclaimed 107 years ago today, marking the Eastern European nation’s first declaration of independence from Mother Russia. (Just five years later, the Bolsheviks consolidated control over the short-lived Ukrainian People’s Republic, which would remain a Soviet Union constituent until finally gaining independence in 1991 – setting up the current conflict.)
Strong signal: Morgan’s original traffic signal significantly advanced automotive safety.
Lefts and rights: Ohio-based inventor Garrett Morgan – a newspaper publisher, community leader and master African American innovator who also invented life-saving gas masks – patented the automatic traffic signal on this date in 1923.
Left in spaaaaace: And it was Nov. 20, 1998, when the first module of the future International Space Station blasted off from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Proton-K carrier rocket.
Zarya, a 41.2-foot-by-13.5-foot cargo bay, waited in orbit for additional ISS components, starting with the Unity connecting module delivered by the Space Shuttle Endeavor 16 days later. All told, ISS construction required 10 years and more than 30 missions.
The tree the apple fell far from: American politician Robert F. Kennedy Sr. (1925-1968) – the U.S. Navy veteran, 64th U.S. attorney general, U.S. senator from New York and assassinated presidential candidate whose namesake son is a blight on the family legacy, according to the Kennedys themselves – would be 99 years old today.
Old school: Love his politics or hate them, Biden behaved like a United States President.
Also born on Nov. 20 were Swedish author Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (1858-1940), the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature; American jurist Kenesaw Mountain Landis (1866-1944), a federal judge and the first-ever commissioner of baseball; American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), the telescope namesake and pioneer of extragalactic astronomy; American broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff (born 1946), a 50-year-plus veteran of local, network, cable and public television news; and American model and actress Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins, 1956), an upper-tier late-20th Century sex symbol (and avid equestrian) turned respected social activist.
Presidential pedigree: And take a bow, President Joseph Robinette “Joe” Biden Jr.! The 46th and current U.S. chief executive – who served 36 years in the U.S. Senate and eight years as U.S. vice president before performing his presidential duties with dignity – turns 82 today.
Wish the outgoing President well at editor@innovateli.com, where we live to serve – send news tips and calendar events and see for yourself.
About our sponsor: Farmingdale State College is the largest college of applied science and technology in the State University of New York system, with nearly 10,000 students and 46 degree programs focused on relevant high-demand careers. More than half of our students graduate debt-free and 82 percent are employed six months after graduation or enrolled in graduate school. Nearly 80 percent of FSC graduates stay and are working on Long Island six months after graduation. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Above board: Bethpage Federal Credit Union is looking for a few good woman-owned businesses.
As part of its Money Like a Woman initiative, the Bethpage-based financial institution is now accepting nominations (including self-nominations) for its “Bethboards” campaign, designed to bolster women entrepreneurs by promoting their businesses on digital billboards in high-traffic locales. The first two Bethboards – plugging Brooklyn-based financial-literacy app Goalsetter, founded by Tanya VanCourt, and Long Island-based business consultancy MGXW Consulting (for “Modern Gen X Woman”), founded by Mimi Bishop and Jackie Ghedine – are already live in New York City’s bustling Times Square.
More information on Money Like a Woman and the Bethboards nominating process is available here. “Women-owned small businesses are at the forefront of redefining the way business is done, and we are excited to celebrate them,” noted Bethpage Federal Credit Union President and CEO Linda Armyn, who is also co-chairwoman of the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council. “We want to hear the stories of female leaders that are making a difference in their communities and do what we can to help them increase visibility and achieve continued growth and success.”
Distinguished dialogue: TIAA Chief Executive Thasunda Duckett (right) and Zarb School Dean Janet Lenaghan chat it up at The Penn Club.
Distinguished Duckett: A renowned financial trailblazer recently shared her unique insights on the transformative role of the modern businesswoman with Hofstra University’s Frank G. Zarb School of Business.
Thasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO of powerhouse New York City-based financial planner TIAA, graced a Zarb School Distinguished Speaker event held Nov. 12 at NYC’s swanky Penn Club. In roundtable discussions with Hofstra faculty and honors-program students, and a detailed one-on-one with Zarb School Dean Janet Lenaghan, Duckett – a frequent flyer on American Banker, Forbes and Fortune powerful-women lists and just the fourth African American woman to lead a Fortune 500 company – shared details from her personal career journey and offered inspiring insights to students and other invited guests.
Among other pearls, the CEO encouraged listeners to be prideful in their university and their work. “Hofstra is your university? You know it’s only going to be as great as what you pour into it,” Duckett noted. “My parents always taught me whatever you do, you do it well or don’t do it at all … you don’t have to know what you want to do, you just have to be in the pursuit of your best and your excellence.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Commuter crusade: Blasting what she calls an unfair tax on Long Island commuters, an Island-based New York State senator is among those leading the opposition to New York City’s new congestion-pricing tolls.
Friendsgiving: Innovate Long Island might be taking a short holiday break, but Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast – our amazing podcast series, featuring intimate one-on-ones with the biggest brains in regional socioeconomics – is always ready to roll. Spend Thanksgiving with some brilliant new friends.
VOICES
In the agriculture, pharmaceutical and scientific research sectors, anxiety abounds over President Donald Trump’s second term – but, on the bright side, it could prove extremely beneficial for U.S. intellectual property laws, according to Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin & Quartararo attorney and Voices IP/Patents Anchor Allison Singh.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Special report: What would eliminating the federal Department of Education mean for special-ed programs? Education Week learns fast.
Quiet, please: Debate rages as theater owners warn guests not to sing along during “Wicked” screenings. The Independent pipes down.
Location vacation: On-screen TV and film locations are the hot destinations of choice for real-life travelers. The BBC “set-jets.”
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Ecolectro, a New York City-based green-hydrogen manufacturer, raised $10.5 million in Series A funding led by Toyota Ventures.
+ Firefly Aerospace, a Texas-based space-transportation manufacturer, raised $175 million in Series D funding led by RPM Ventures, AE Industrial Partners and GiantLeap Capital.
+ Impilo, a Pennsylvania-based digital-health platform, raised $11.5 million in Series A funding led by Construct Capital.
+ Homethrive, an Illinois-based technology-enabled caregiving-solutions platform, raised $20 million in funding, led by TELUS Global Ventures and 7Wire Ventures.
+ Metsera, a NYC-based clinical-stage biopharma focused on obesity and metabolic health, raised $215 million in Series B funding led by Wellington Management and Venrock.
+ Snap! Mobile, a Washington State-based fundraising platform for schools and organizations, received $23 million in growth equity investment from Runway Growth 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 Farmingdale State). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (When Black Friday Comes Edition)
Tag, you’re it: Black Friday gives way to Small Business Saturday, when Mom and Pop shine.
The thought that counts: Stop obsessing over giving “the perfect gift.”
Friday shmyday: Why wait? We’re already deep into the holiday-bargain season.
Take a day to think about it: The SBA hopes you’ll hold off until Small-Biz Saturday.
In the black: Please continue supporting the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Farmingdale State College – considering tuition costs, programmatic diversity and instructional quality, one of the best higher-education deals on Long Island. Check them out.
