Hot Topics

Hofstra University

Opinion January 14, 2019

Digital glory there for the taking on talent-rich LI

By DEAN DeCARLO // As a 25-year-old millennial, I can distinctly remember a world without omnipresent electronic devices. Then my father brought home a white Compaq PC, preloaded with Windows 95. I was awed by its capabilities – and little did I know a dramatic digital revolution had begun. By intermediate school, most of my Commack classrooms had smartboards. My fourth-grade website “The Weekly Video” used a “drag and drop” builder. It’s safe to say…

Newsletters January 11, 2019

No. 371: On Hollywood Whisky, organic sweeteners, zero-calorie chocolate and other tasty matters

  Welcome to Friday: You’ve done it, dear reader – the first full workweek of 2019 is just about in the books, and a very welcomed weekend is upon us. It’s Jan. 11 out there, and yes, Grand Canyon National Park – which today celebrates the 111th anniversary of Teddy Roosevelt declaring the canyon a national monument – is open, despite the partial federal government shutdown. Code maker: Today is also an important anniversary for…

Economic Development December 18, 2018

Lower-tier LI consoled by $68M in 2018 REDC awards

By GREGORY ZELLER // If $68.3 million for workforce development and affordable housing programs is losing, Long Island will take it. That’s the Island’s haul in the 2018 Regional Economic Development Council competition, announced Tuesday by Empire State Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Howard Zemsky. Zemsky, also commissioner of the New York State Department of Economic Development, presented all 10 winners of the annual statewide development competition, each representing one of 10 economic-development zones….

Newsletters December 7, 2018

No. 363: The Master of Innovation prognosticates, Dowling writes it down and DG Sotheby’s techs up (once again)

  Welcome to Friday: You’ve done it, intrepid innovators – the sun sets on another busy workweek and rises on another well-earned weekend. Nicely played. Changeable skies: It’s Dec. 7 out there, a date that will live in infamy, as FDR famously said, and that obviously includes some terrible things done with airplanes. But this date also brings us International Civil Aviation Day, an annual celebration of aviation’s uniquely cooperative history and big-time contributions to…

Economic Development November 14, 2018

20 years and still smartening up at Vision Long Island

By GREGORY ZELLER // Before downtown redevelopment was cool, there was Vision Long Island. Today, it seems, everyone is doing it: “Transit-oriented development” is in, Albany doles out $10 million checks to stir the pot and some 40 Long Island downtown districts are in some revivalist phase – a “coalition of the willing,” according to Vision Long Island Director Eric Alexander, who remembers a time not long ago when things were a little different. “When…

Education November 8, 2018

Adelphi centers creativity around new innovation hub

By GREGORY ZELLER // With several university-based incubators and centers of excellence already bolstering the Long Island innovation economy, Adelphi University is working up its own innovation hub. Coming soon: The Adelphi Innovation Center, a 2,000-square-foot research laboratory planned for the Garden City school’s Swirbul Library. Scheduled for a September 2019 opening, the AIC will take its place among a number of advanced “innovation centers” on Long Island, including the Hofstra University Center for Entrepreneurship,…

Newsletters November 2, 2018

No. 354: Journalists’ lives matter, the wisdom of Confucius and all kinds of LI-based heart-valve news

November? Really? Welcome to Friday, dear readers, and the end of a kinda spooky, strangely warm workweek here on Long Island. It’s Nov. 2 out there, Day 3 of the 2018 holiday season and no, WALK 97.5 hasn’t switched to its all-Christmas music format just yet. (But if you need a fix, Sirius XM has no fewer than 16 channels already Bing-ing away.) Like clockwork: Before we wrap up your week in socioeconomic innovation, a…

Entrepreneurs October 24, 2018

Seeing the innovation economy in black and white

By GREGORY ZELLER // In a true first for the Long Island innovation economy, an historically underserved population of regional entrepreneurs will step up to the plate Thursday night at LaunchPad Huntington. In conjunction with the 501(c)3 organization Minority Millennials, LaunchPad Huntington Director Phil Rugile has scheduled Ideas Impacting Culture: Minority Millennial Pitch Night, a chance for several non-white innovators to pitch products and services to a panel of established business professionals, also comprised of…

Entrepreneurs October 15, 2018

Lesko leaves, so Hofstra Entrepreneurship Sikes up

By GREGORY ZELLER // The student has become the master at Hofstra University, where Stacey Sikes is the new executive dean of the Center for Entrepreneurship. Sikes succeeds former Executive Dean Mark Lesko, the first-ever head of the innovation-heavy business-development center, who has left the university to return to the field of law. Lesko, whose long résumé includes years as a federal prosecutor, said Monday he’ll be making an official announcement about his new gig…

Economic Development October 2, 2018

Past success, future hopes fuel LIREDC’s 2018 report

By GREGORY ZELLER // The Long Island Regional Economic Development Council has met its Oct. 1 deadline and submitted its annual progress report/wish list to the Empire State Development Corp., Albany’s main economic-development engine. The 2018 progress report, titled “Long Island: Completing the Puzzle,” both highlights the efforts of the Long Island REDC since Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched his competitive statewide economic-development program in 2011 and lists the projects the regional council hopes to support…

Newsletters September 28, 2018

No. 344: Blowing in from Denmark, droning on at PSEG and star trekking in Garden City (plus, your Cocoa Puffs origin story) 

Friday morning and the mood is high: Welcome to the end of another busy workweek, dear readers. It’s Sept. 28 out there, and the first full weekend of autumn is upon us. Friday night and the lights are low: To get you in the proper mood, check out this list of the top 15 Friday songs, courtesy of our friends at MetroLyrics. Freedom rocks: It’s International Right to Know Day, the 16th anniversary of a…

Education September 24, 2018

Old-school art, next-gen tech converge at Five Towns

By GREGORY ZELLER // Once the pipedream of an overactive imagination, a new Interactive Computer Graphics degree program is now resetting educational and professional trends at Five Towns College. With the start of the Fall 2018 semester, the Dix Hills-based college has officially introduced its new course, the masterwork of digital innovator Paul Lipsky, who spearheaded the effort – including creation of the program curriculum – in an effort to right some wrongs he perceives…

Newsletters August 24, 2018

No. 334: On waffles, NATO, Estée Lauder and ocean acidity – plus feeding healthier pets, one ingredient at a time

Mission accomplished: You set out on Monday to complete another summer workweek, dear readers, and here you are – it’s Friday, Aug. 24, and another well-earned weekend dawns. Listen to this: It’s also International Strange Music Day, an annual event designed to broaden musical tastes by getting people to listen to music they’ve never heard before. To that end, put your hands together for Swedish folktronica band Wintergatan, and the amazing marble music machine! Somehow,…

Newsletters July 25, 2018

No. 325: Prime time for Whole Foods, a big score for LI colleges and playing it safe with coyotes

Middle ground: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and the midpoint of another busy (and sticky!) summer workweek. X factor: It’s July 25 out there, a big date for suspending the freedom of the press, eliminating legislators’ ability to amend laws and otherwise silencing political enemies. Of course, that’s a reference to France’s King Charles X, who signed the infamous July Ordinances on July 25, 1830 – a questionable move that led to massive social protests…

Education July 23, 2018

LI schools snag $12.6M in state facilities funds

By GREGORY ZELLER // Seven-figure stipends are flowing to private colleges and universities across Long Island as part of a hefty package of state grants supporting statewide campus-infrastructure projects. All told, Albany has announced more than $67.1 million in grants for capital projects at 39 institutions of higher learning through the latest round of the state’s Higher Education Facilities Capital Matching Grant Program. Each of the awards was greenlighted by the HECap Board, which provides…