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Analysis August 15, 2019

Island holds its own among the 2019 Inc. 5000

By GREGORY ZELLER // One of the most exhaustive annual studies of American business growth is lousy with Long Island companies. That is to say, Long Island is well-represented in the 2019 Inc. 5000, the magazine’s annual analysis of the 5,000 “most successful companies in America” – at least, the fastest-growing private firms in all the land. Released this week, the prestigious yearly list analyzes three-year growth rates (in this case, spanning 2015-2018) of U.S.-based,…

Calendar August 15, 2019

Stuff we’re thinking about going to

  August 21  Community Potluck Dinner  5-8 p.m., Treiber Farms, Peconic  The East End Food Institute and Slow Food-East End present a celebration of local foods featuring dishes prepared with ingredients from regional agricultural enterprises, part of the institute’s Know Your Farmers series. Ticket pricing, registration and more information available here. August 23 LIMBA 2019 Breakfast Series: Rebecca Sanin  8 a.m., Courtyard by Marriott, Ronkonkoma Long Island Metro Business Action presents Rebecca Sanin, president and…

Education August 14, 2019

STEM scholarships help out Northwell dependents

By GREGORY ZELLER // From the Two Birds One Stone File comes Northwell Health, which is helping out its employees – and bolstering its own future – with a new scholarship program. The New Hyde Park-based health system has awarded the first educational stipends through its STEM Scholarships program, designed to assist college-bound dependents of Northwell Health employees – primarily, future collegians pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. The $7,500 individual scholarships…

Economic Development August 13, 2019

Baldwin scores $10M in Albany’s 2019 DRI competition

By GREGORY ZELLER // Downtown Baldwin has taken the regional crown, and the $10 million jackpot, in Albany’s annual downtown-revitalization competition. Following wins by Westbury in 2016, Hicksville in 2017 and Central Islip in 2018, Baldwin – a census-designated hamlet in Nassau County’s Town of Hempstead – will enjoy a $10 million state stipend aimed at sprucing up its downtrodden downtown. On Tuesday, Baldwin became the first winner announced in the fourth-annual Downtown Revitalization Initiative…

Opinion August 13, 2019

Region unites against LI’s nitrogen nightmare

By JOHN CAMERON JR. // Each summer, annual reminders of our region’s water-quality crisis – including fish kills, toxic algal blooms and others – reappear. While there are a number of causes for the poor quality of many of our coastal and inland waterways, “nitrogen loading” has been a main culprit. Nitrogen from fertilizer and human waste enters our waterways and causes the excessive growth of algae. which uses up dissolved oxygen and blocks sunlight….

Earnings August 12, 2019

Tariffs trump Lifetime; Broadridge bangs out big year

  LIFETIME BRANDS INC. Headquarters: Garden City Industry: Capital goods Nasdaq: LCUT Reporting Date: Aug. 8, 2019 Reporting Quarter: 2Q FY2019 Quarter Ended: June 30, 2019 Numbers: Second-quarter net sales were reported as $142.5 million, a 4.2 percent drop from the $148.7 million reported for the same quarter last fiscal year. Net loss was $11.5 million – a loss of 56 cents per diluted share and an 88.5 percent plunge from the $6.1 million net…

Mergers & Acquisitions August 12, 2019

For Applied DNA, new blood – and a shot in the arm

By GREGORY ZELLER // Just 11 months after spinning off from its parent company, a Stony Brook startup with expansion in its DNA has made its first corporate acquisition. LineaRX, a subsidiary of Applied DNA Sciences, has acquired the physical assets and intellectual property of Vitatex Inc., a private biotech with close ties to Stony Brook University and a patented method of isolating Invasive Circulating Tumor Cells in standard blood samples – spotting metastatic cells…

Voices August 9, 2019

Physician recruitment: Money talks, but lifestyle rules

By ROBERT GLAZER // Recruiting and maintaining top talent defines a company and the quality of its services – and nowhere is that more apparent than in healthcare, where physician shortages remain a primary concern. By investing heavily in recruitment, medical practices across the country can ensure that they obtain and maintain the best of the best. Experience shows that today’s doctors value more than just compensation, though finances are definitely a key part of…

Startups August 8, 2019

For those with ‘charging anxiety,’ a lite in the dark

By GREGORY ZELLER // This is no AAA battery – a Long Island City startup with Long Island connections is bringing its field-tested “charge-sharing” tech straight to The Show. Hoplite Power, a client of Stony Brook University’s Clean Energy Business Incubator Program proliferating rechargeable smartphone battery packs and a network to rent and return them, is set to join the New York Mets just in time for the Amazins’ unlikely playoff run, with five “Hoplite…

Medical devices August 7, 2019

Hofstra helps healthcare startups meet their matches

By GREGORY ZELLER // Nassau University Medical Center hosted a healthcare summit on Wednesday that put up-and-coming healthcare entrepreneurs in front of two important audiences. The innovators, all participants in Hofstra University’s federally funded Healthcare Entrepreneurship Community Challenge, met with decision-makers from large-scale health systems and Long Island residents – the people most likely to need their products – in a “Customer Discovery Day” conference designed specifically to inform the entrepreneurs during their early-stage formations….

News August 6, 2019

Gun violence raging, Hempstead PD calls for backup

By GREGORY ZELLER // With bullets and Second Amendment battles ricocheting around the nation, one Long Island village where gun violence is a too-frequent reality is getting some much-needed reinforcements. Trumpeting both increased manpower and new technological advances, Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared in the Village of Hempstead Tuesday to announce short- and long-term strategies for policing in the village, where the gun problem is “not unique,” the governor lamented, “but may be worse” than in…

Law August 5, 2019

Pot luck! Albany significantly decriminalizes possession

By GREGORY ZELLER // Smoke ’em if you got ’em. It’s not that cavalier about it, but new legislation signed July 29 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo significantly decriminalizes marijuana use in New York State – a victory not only for the herbal set at large, but for African American and Latino communities in particular. Noting “communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by laws governing marijuana for far too long,” Cuomo signed S.6579A/A.8420, companion New…

Voices August 2, 2019

As SAT-prep costs soar, a classroom-based solution

By HARRY AURORA // If this spring’s much-publicized college admissions scandal highlights anything, it’s that competition to get into the nation’s top schools is fierce, with the cost of admission seemingly as high as the price of matriculation. Extreme examples aside, it’s no secret that college preparation favors the wealthy. Private instruction and tutors provide a competitive advantage to students and families who can afford them; some tutors’ rates start at $1,000 per hour, and…

Economic Development August 1, 2019

With next DRI winners looming, Central Islip gets busy

By GREGORY ZELLER // With the latest winners of Albany’s annual Downtown Regional Initiative waiting in the wings, they’re getting busy in Central Islip, reigning Long Island champion. The statewide competitive-application process – which awards $10 million stipends to spur private investment in distressed downtowns in each of New York’s 10 economic-development zones – is set to announce its Round 4 winners in the coming days. But first, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been delivering updates…

Sustainability July 31, 2019

NYIT at the center of food/energy/water nexus, again

By GREGORY ZELLER // The food/energy/water nexus will center once again on the New York Institute of Technology, courtesy of another chunky federal grant. Principal investigator Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at NYIT’s College of Engineering and Computing Sciences, will use a $747,000 National Science Foundation grant to establish a “research coordination network” focused on food, energy and water – the trifurcated nerve center of sustainable urban development. Through…