Looking ahead: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we muscle through another busy early-Summer workweek – an appropriately humid one here on Long Island, though better weather is in the forecast.
Speaking of things to come, your favorite innovation-news hub has flipped the switch on its first-ever Reader Survey, giving you a golden chance to shape Innovate Long Island’s future (and your own). More below.
Missing lynx: Only about 50,000 of the handsome giant cats remain, primarily across Europe and Asia.
Eye of the beholder: Today is June 11 and we begin with a nod to National Making Life Beautiful Day, which was started by a beauty-products company but has evolved into a proactive celebration of good deeds, warm feelings and other things that make life on Earth so lovely – hard to remember, when relentlessly ugly leaders with hideous aspirations darken every news cycle, but twice as important.
Among the beautiful things embraced today (figuratively … not literally, goodness no): the lynx, the largest wild cat in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria and star of the show on International Lynx Day, which is all about understanding and protecting these exquisite endangered felines.
Salty and sweet: Here in the States, we get a little corny on National Corn on the Cob Day. (Salt and butter to taste).
And everyone in the world gets to dig in on National German Chocolate Cake Day, celebrating the classic cocoa indulgence every June 11.
Hot stuff: Baking your own German chocolate cake? You’ll need a good oven – and for the record, while it’s mainly used for space-heating purposes today, the Franklin Stove was indeed intended for both cooking and heating when Benjamin Franklin invented the thing on this date in 1742.
Hot wheels: Massachusetts-based inventor Charles Duryea was a little more single-minded when he patented the gasoline-powered automobile on June 11, 1895.
Hot wings? The Distinguished Flying Cross became a thing 98 years ago today, when aviator Charles Lindburgh earned the U.S. Armed Forces military decoration for completing his historic first-ever transatlantic flight three weeks earlier.
Ho-ho-huh?: Nothing says “Summer” quite like this Christmas classic.
Hot start: It was Christmas in June on this date in 1947, when 20th Century Fox’s perennial holiday favorite “Miracle on 34th Street” was released in theaters.
Hot streak: And speaking of seminal movie moments, “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” – more of a prototypical Summer blockbuster – first phoned home on June 11, 1982.
Following megahits “Jaws” (1975), “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977) and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), the beloved story of a loving friendship between an ancient alien botanist and a 10-year-old Earth boy cemented director Steven Spielberg’s unassailable Hollywood legacy.
Rankin member: American politician and women’s rights advocate Jeanette Rankin (1880-1973) – the first U.S. woman to hold a federal office (elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1916, four years before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote) – would be 145 years old today.
Peter Dinklage: As big as they come.
Also born on June 11 were German scientist, engineer and industrialist Carl von Linde (1842-1934), who extracted oxygen from the air and invented mechanical refrigeration; American marine zoologist Mary Jane Rathbun (1860-1943), who wrote the book on crustacea; French Naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and conservationist Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997), who revolutionized underwater exploration by co-inventing the Aqua-Lung; American professional football coach and executive Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), who became synonymous with greatness; and American actor Peter Dinklage (born 1969), a larger-than-life Emmy- and Golden Globe-winner.
Winning formula: And take a bow, Sir John Young “Jackie” Stewart! The retired Scottish racecar driver, broadcaster and motorsport executive – who won three Formula One World Drivers’ Championship titles, worked tirelessly to improve safety in his sport and, at the time of his retirement, held the records for the most single-race wins (27) and podium finishes (43) – turns 86 today.
Wish The Flying Scot well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips and calendar events always earn the checkered flag.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Gold standard: Farmingdale’s Pinelawn Cemetery is a champion of sustainable environmentalism, according to Audubon International.
Golden memorial: A sprawling Suffolk County burial ground has become the first cemetery in the world to earn a glittering Audubon Society distinction.
Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboretum in Farmingdale has been recognized as a Certified Audubon Classic Sanctuary-Gold Level by New York City-based nonprofit Audubon International. The distinction requires strict environmental-safekeeping practices, including design and operational systems consistent with waste reduction, energy efficiency and sustainability standards green-stamped by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Pinelawn initiatives helping to earn the new status include the replacement of underground fuel tanks with safer above-ground alternatives, a new water-recycling washdown station for the cemetery’s vehicle fleet, ongoing community-education programming and new buffer zones enhancing local wildlife habitats. “Our goal is to minimize our impact on the environment while making our grounds a place of peace and beauty for all those who visit,” noted Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboretum President and CEO Justin Locke. “We are extremely proud to be the first memorial park to be recognized globally for environmental excellence … This important certification is a testament to our team’s hard work and the legacy we continue to build for the community.”
Technology twofer: The Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency has approved tax-abatement packages for two growth-minded technology firms.
The agency has greenlighted $2.1 million in tax breaks for Deer Park-based Mason Technologies, a manufacturer of low-voltage technology-integration solutions that’s planning to invest $20.8 million establishing a new headquarters facility in Hauppauge – including the purchase, renovation and expansion (from 50,000 square feet to 71,500 square feet) of an existing Oser Avenue facility. The IDA is also supporting Hauppauge-based Communication Power Companies, a machine shop that’s investing $1.7 million to lease and spruce up a 45,000-square-foot Davids Drive facility, where it will continue to produce high-performance antennas, custom radio-frequency and microwave-power amplifiers and related components for military, industrial and scientific uses.
Jobs retention/creation is the name of the game, with Mason Technologies promising to retain 237 current Suffolk County jobs and create 25 new positions and CPC promising to keep 79 full-time jobs and introduce eight new ones. Suffolk County IDA Executive Director Kelly Murphy praised Mason Technologies’ “unwavering commitment to retaining their greatest asset – their people” and applauded CPC’s plans to remain in Suffolk. “CPC’s decision to grow here underscores the strength of our advanced manufacturing ecosystem,” Murphy added.
POLL POSITION
Innovate Long Island proudly presents our first-ever Reader Survey – a frontline opportunity for you, intrepid innovator, to shape the future of your favorite innovation-news hub, add new tools to our business-building toolbox and maybe win yourself one of three $50 Visa Gift Cards!
What do you like most about our newsletters and website? What should we add next? And did we mention the $50 gift-card drawing?
The quick-and-easy survey will collate your tastes and best ideas through the end of June, but don’t wait – the future starts now! Tell us what you think.
TOP OF THE SITE
Print lives: A “biofabrication” breakthrough could reset laboratory research as Renaissance School of Medicine scientists leverage collagen to overcome problems known to hamper the bioprinting of living structures.
Tell us again: It’s going to be a busy summer on “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast,” with more new episodes on the way – while you’re waiting, catch up with Trellus Networks CEO Adam Haber and about 50 other innovation economy leaders, all with something important to tell you.
VOICES
As the national noise grows louder, Long Island’s regional reporters must continue to champion truth – just as they always have, according to ZE Creative Communications Executive Vice President and Voices Media Anchor David Chauvin, who fires up the steam-engine core of local news reporting.
Something to say? Welcome to The Entrepreneur’s Edge, Innovate Long Island’s new promoted-content news feature platform – a direct link from you to our innovation-focused audience. Progressive product to promote? Singular service to sell? Sociopolitical position to push? Shine a bright light on the big picture, the little details and everything in between with The Entrepreneur’s Edge. Living on the edge.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Have a Coke and an AI-generated image: What Coca-Cola learned from its generative-artificial intelligence public campaign. Forbes sips success.
Don’t rain on this parade: A “very big force” awaits anyone who dares protest Saturday’s birthday party/military parade. The Hill relays warnings.
Can you hear me now? “Trampoline listening” could make you a better conversationalist. HuffPost bounces ideas.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ TAE Technologies, a California-based energy startup focused on fusion power, raised $150 million in funding led by Chevron, Google and NEA.
+ Yieldstreet, a New York City-based private-markets investment platform, raised $45 million in Series D funding led by Tarsadia Investments, Mayfair Equity Partners and Edison Partners.
+ Pillar Biosciences, a Massachusetts-based decision-medicine manufacturer producing clinical testing kits, raised $34.5 million in funding. Backers included Illumina and Soleus Capital.
+ Clear Current, a New Mexico-based energy manager leveraging artificial intelligence technologies, raised more than $4 million in Seed funding backed by Coreline Ventures and Avesta Fund.
+ Every, a NYC based multi-modal media platform, raised $2 million in Seed funding co-led by Reid Hoffman and StartingLine VC.
+ Slash, a California-based fintech offering financial technologies for entrepreneurs, raised $41 million in Series B funding backed by Goodwater Capital, NEA and Menlo Ventures.
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 SUNY Old Westbury). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Less-Traveled Edition)
Yankee go home: We may be lamenting lost tourism in the States, but in Spain, they’d be just fine with fewer visitors.
“Tourist hunting”: Street artists in Spain are seething over mass visitors.
International flight: At JFK, new travel bans stoke uncertainty and fear.
Stay away: U.S. eyes a $9 billion loss as MAGA sinks international tourism.
Going places: Please continue supporting the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including SUNY Old Westbury, which prepares its students to succeed on local, national and global levels. Check them out.
