By RAY DONNELLY and JULIE ALLEGRETTI // The light switches have been off at the Long Island Forum for Technology for years, but sadly, the brightest light of LIFT is gone out forever as Diane Muscarella passed suddenly on Dec. 27. As a single mother, Diane earned degrees at Nassau Community College and Hofstra University while launching a career in marketing. She was a fixture at LIFT for years, and in her role as director…
By GREGORY ZELLER // With a national nursing shortage in their sights, Hofstra University and Northwell Health are launching a new undergraduate nursing program on Long Island – and planning a $60 million learning center to house it. The people who brought you the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra/Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies on Monday announced a new Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, with…
By GREGORY ZELLER // They’re connecting important new dots at the Nebula Academy, where an innovative approach to software development is answering a 21st century workforce challenge. You don’t need an Excel spreadsheet to know coders, programmers and other software specialists are in high demand; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook projects a 21 percent surge in software-development jobs between 2018 and 2028, easily outpacing national averages. And developers bring home the…
By GREGORY ZELLER // Going up? You bet – minimum wages on Long Island and around New York State are set to rise again. As part of a Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s phased-in master plan, which ultimately targets a statewide $15 minimum wage, Westchester-, Nassau- and Suffolk-based employers are required to pay a $13 hourly minimum as of Dec. 31, with the $15 minimum scheduled to arrive in 2021. In New York City, where the minimum…
By GREGORY ZELLER // The New Year brings new minimum wages across New York State, including a $15-per-hour top tier that bests any state-sanctioned minimum wage in the country. Not every minimum-wage New Yorker will earn that premier paycheck, thanks to Albany’s sliding-scale approach to wage hikes, a wonder wheel of wages that, as of 2019, extends that $15 rate to employees of small firms (10 employees or fewer) in New York City. Big NYC…
By GREGORY ZELLER // The state university system’s clean-energy workforce-development efforts have received an eight-digit shot in the arm. A $15 million state investment will bolster SUNY’s clean-energy workforce and training programs, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, with $6 million heading to specific campus-based efforts – including several on Long Island – and an additional $9 million earmarked for colleges and universities planning apprenticeships and internships with industry partners. The funding is part of…
By GREGORY ZELLER // A chunky state investment will focus the State University of New York system on the specific needs of employers in cutting-edge fields, part of Albany’s plan to help train New York’s 21st century workforce. The state will sink $3 million into programs that put together SUNY, the NYS Department of Labor and statewide employers – specifically those in the healthcare and advanced-manufacturing industries – to create registered apprenticeships “that directly answer…
By GREGORY ZELLER // Holy old school! In a digital era decidedly defined by screens large and small, a forward-thinking entrepreneur is turning back the clock by inviting customers to turn actual pages. At a minimum, un-caped crusader Joshua Darbee is turning heads at Red Shirt Comics, a relative newcomer that’s already feeling right at home in downtown Port Jefferson. Since opening in May, the friendly neighborhood industrialist has made plenty of fans, attracted precisely…