Count us in: Here we are, dear readers, right where you left us – eyes on the prize and forever racing step-for-step with the bustling Long Island innovation economy.
Yes, after our short end-of-Summer break, Innovate Long Island is back on the beat – and back to counting down the days to our super-spectacular Newsletter Issue No. 1,000, jam-packed with big-time announcements about the future of your favorite innovation news organization (and your future, too). Coming next week to an inbox near you (assuming, of course, you have a free newsletter subscription)!
Did you say “grilled cheese?”: Bite your tongue — then bite into some Welsh rarebit, and you’ll know the difference.
Look, up in the sky: Here on Sept. 3, we proudly present Newsletter Issue No. 998, which also aims high – starting with National Skyscraper Day, celebrating the unique architectural form of super-tall buildings. (Why today of all days? Good question … read on!)
Whether you’re on the 30th floor or anywhere else, make sure you hug a headhunter today – it’s also Global Talent Acquisition Day, a first-Wednesday-of-September salute to the essential contributions of skilled professionals who connect employees with opportunities and, in no small measure, build entire economies.
“Rare” is just the half of it: Today’s menu is topped by one of our absolute favorites, not just for its tastiness but its raw innovation. After all, how many culinary creations actually invent a word with no other meaning than the dish itself? Well, that’s what you get on National Welsh Rarebit Day, dining fine every Sept. 3 on melted cheese, hot toast and unique neologism (plus beer, Worcester sauce and mustard, when done right).
We’ll always have Paris: Also done right was the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the American Revolution when it was signed on this date in 1783 by Great Britain and the newly recognized United States of America.
Signs here: Dalton’s first-ever atomic symbols were nothing like the chart commonly used today.
Symbolic gesture: Also officially recognized on this date were atomic symbols, as per handwritten notes recorded on Sept. 3, 1803, by English chemist/physicist John Dalton, the “Father of Modern Atomic Theory.”
Next stop, Menlo Park: Speaking of big-time innovators, there was a fairly famous conductor at the controls 95 years ago today, when the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad – already well-established as a major connector between Hoboken, NJ, and Buffalo, NY – introduced all-electric trains along its Northern New Jersey lines.
SOSes in spaaaaace: From electric trains to oceanic vessels, heart of the matter on this date in 1976, when the Convention on the International Maritime Satellite Organization was adopted by the IMO, establishing provisions for satellite-based maritime distress calls.
Eye on Mars: And it was that same day – Sept. 3, 1976 – when NASA’s unmanned Viking II lander touched down on the surface of Mars, officially the second human spacecraft to land safely on the Red Planet.
While Viking I beat its twin to the rocky surface by about seven weeks, Viking II was the first to bring a camera – which it quickly put to fairly amazing use.
Form follows function: American architect Louis Henry Sullivan (1856-1924) – a modernist master who mentored Frank Lloyd Wright, inspired his protégé’s famous “Prairie School” style and achieved immortality as the “Father of Skyscrapers” – would be 169 years old today. (Skyscraper Day, get it?)
High and mighty: Shaun White has won more Olympic gold (and more X Games gold) than any other snowboarder.
Also born on Sept. 3 were German-Czech automotive engineer Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1951), a leading Third Reich engineer who somehow escaped eternal punishment and shame, at least long enough to create his eponymous sportscar brand; American electronics engineer Harold DeForest Arnold (1883-1933), a pioneer of radio communication and telephony; American particle physicist Carl Anderson (1905-1991), who shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics with Victor Hess for discovering positrons; American academic, scientist and politician Marguerite “Dixy Lee” Ray (1914-1994), a strong proponent of nuclear power, acerbic critic of environmentalism and outspoken governor of Washington State; and American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder Shaun White (born 1986), a five-time Olympian and three-time Olympic gold medalist.
No “Soup Nazi” without you! And take a bow, Michael Donovan “Spike” Feresten! The Emmy-nominated American television writer, screenwriter, comedian and television personality – whose zesty singers, sharp soliloquys and witty one-liners have supercharged everything from “Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons” to “Late Night With David Letterman” and “Saturday Night Live” – turns 61 today.
Give Feresten (who delivered this classic, among others) your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we love to laugh – but never at your news tips or calendar events, which are serious business.
About our sponsor: The Long Island Business Development Council has helped build the regional economy for 56 years by bringing together government economic-development officials, developers, financial experts and others for education, debate and networking.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Broad(ridge) appeal: The Suffolk IDA will help Broadridge Financial Solutions spruce up 722,000 square feet of space in Edgewood — and retain 1,500-plus high-paying jobs in the process.
Broad siding: A global fintech leader will beef up its Long Island operations, with a tip of its cap to the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency.
The Suffolk IDA has issued preliminary approvals on a tax-abatement package benefiting Broadridge Financial Solutions, a publicly traded corporate-services and financial-technology company that’s planning to invest $90 million to renovate and equip two Edgewood facilities, totaling more than 722,000 square feet. The upgrades at Broadridge’s Mercedes Way and Long Island Avenue operations are projected to keep 1,500-plus jobs on Suffolk County’s employment rolls, with an average salary exceeding $111,000, according to the IDA.
The Payment in Lieu of Taxes deal must still undergo a full IDA review – including a public hearing and final vote – but supporting “a cornerstone of Suffolk County’s innovation economy” is a true no-brainer, according to Suffolk County IDA Executive Director and CEO Kelly Murphy, especially considering the strength and breadth of the red-hot fintech sector. “As other states compete aggressively for financial services and technology jobs, this action helps ensure Long Island remains a place where global technology leaders like Broadridge can grow and thrive,” Murphy added.
Safe to go back in the water: Summer may be ending, but the risk of drowning – in coastal waters, lakes, rivers and swimming pools – lives on.
Enter the Suffolk County Drowning Prevention Action Plan, a comprehensive strategy spearheaded by national water-safety nonprofits The ZAC Foundation and Stop Drowning Now and developed with input from Stony Brook Children’s Hospital and nearly three-dozen regional stakeholders. Introduced last week, the county’s first-ever anti-drowning initiative aims to reduce the rate of countywide swimming accidents and enhance water safety for residents and visitors – important stuff, with Suffolk reporting a 60 percent increase in drowning incidents between 2023 and 2024 (including 24 drowning fatalities in 2024, most involving children in backyard pools).
The plan, which aligns with the U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan, involves increased understanding of drowning risks among lawmakers, improved public education about the dangers and a revitalized “prevention workforce” (lifeguards, in particular), among other progressive steps. “This action plan was much needed in Suffolk County,” noted Jacqueline Bober, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. “We are committed to this initiative and will continue to do everything we can to prevent drownings.”
TOP OF THE SITE
CLEAR thinking: A new Stony Brook University program gives outside industry several flexible options for pursuing the commercialization of university-based applied-research breakthroughs – creating wins for the university, those industry partners and society as a whole.
Fourth impressions: Fair Media Council CEO and Executive Director Jaci Clement joins Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast to discuss the troubling state of the Fourth Estate and her important mission to right the national news media’s ship – and to share her best memories of Innovate Long Island founder John Kominicki.
VOICES
What critically important personal- or professional-development lesson will you learn today? Unrivaled experts in law, media, healthcare, technology, environmental sciences, social services and other vital sectors can answer that for you … check out Innovate Long Island’s amazing Voices Library and see what they say.
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
“Very corrupt voting system”: Space Command is relocating from Colorado to Alabama – but not for political reasons. The Associated Press packs its bags.
Newsom and improved: California’s governor is launching the “Trump Corruption” memecoin to fund pro-democracy efforts. Cryptoslate trolls on.
“Barbenheimer,” it wasn’t: K-pop, the Fantastic Four … even Superman couldn’t save the Summer box office. The Guardian comes up short.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Sensorium Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based biotech focused on mental-health therapeutics, raised $25 million in Series A funding backed by Mockingbird Capital Partners, Mission BioCapital, Hatteras Venture Partners and Dolby Family Ventures.
+ RenewCO2, a New Jersey-based energy innovator converting carbon dioxide into useable chemicals and fuels, raised $5 million in seed funding led by DNP.
+ Vulcan Elements, a North Carolina-based rare-earth magnet manufacturer, raised $65 million in Series A funding led by Altimeter Capital.
+ Wugen, a Missouri-based biotech developing CAR-T cell therapies for cancer, raised $115 million in funding led by Fidelity Management and Research Co.
+ ALIGNMT AI, a New York City-based artificial intelligence-compliance platform for healthcare, raised $6.5 million in Seed funding led by AIX Ventures.
+ Surface Design Solutions, a Pennsylvania-based software developer for manufacturing platforms, raised $365,000 in funding backed by the Richard King Mellon Foundation.
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 LIBDC). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Fall Ahead Edition)
Maybe it’s the whole ensemble: We don’t know if it’s the jacket, the belt or the shades, but it’s all the rage this season.
Grape expectations: Autumn is winery season on Long Island … here’s a guide.
French connections: Straight from Paris, the trendiest must-wears of Fall 2025.
Weird science: Back to work, back to school, everything dies … so why do humans love Fall so much?
For all seasons: Please continue supporting the outstanding organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Long Island Business Development Council, where stronger regional socioeconomics are always in season – be it Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall. Check them out.
