Shows
Spark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn Interview with Martha Stansbury, Director, SBDC at Stony BrookSmall business is the revenue-generating, jobs-producing backbone of regional socioeconomics – and nobody knows this better than Martha Stansbury.As director of the Small Business Development Center at Stony Brook, Martha has many oars in the water – overseeing instructional programs, preparing annual and special-project budgets, addressing the immediate and long-term needs of entrepreneurs, meeting constantly with State University administrators, Long Island lawmakers and other influential stakeholders.In today’s episode, Martha joins Spark host Gregory Zeller to discuss her long business-development career, her personal and professional ambitions and the Stony Brook SBDC’s Job No. 1: helping small bu...2025-06-2339 min
Spark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn Interview with Adam Haber, co-founder and CEO of Trellus NetworksAs co-founder and CEO of Long Beach-based Trellus Networks, Adam Haber is giving Long Island mom-and-pop retailers a fighting chance against Amazon and other e-commerce giants: a last-mile logistics partner offering home delivery to customers across the Island.It’s the latest endeavor for a master innovator whose long résumé includes stints as a commodities trader, a political candidate, a restaurateur, a government efficiency professional and a seasoned angel investor – and the one that promises the most benefits for other Long Island entrepreneurs, and for the regional innovation economy at large. In today’s episode...2025-06-0332 min
Spark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Kyle Strober, executive director, Association for a Better Long IslandNobody understands Long Island socioeconomics better than Kyle Strober. Long Island has many organizations and many leaders monitoring and shaping the regional quality of life – but none more influential than the Association for a Better Long Island and its busy executive director. Kyle joined the association in 2017 after several years as a legislative aide, first for a Nassau County legislator and then as Long Island regional director for U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer – positions that uniquely qualified him to head up a frontline watchdog focused primarily on real estate development in Nassau and Suffolk counties. 2025-03-0445 min
Spark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with author and journalist Ambrose ClancyIf you read newspapers, magazines or books, you’ve likely read something written by Ambrose Clancy.Ambrose has been an author and professional journalist for half a century, gracing major newspapers like The Village Voice, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, popular magazines like GQ and The Nation, and several beloved community periodicals on Long Island, including a long run as editor of The Shelter Island Reporter.His third book – “My Life In Pieces: Writers, Rogues, The Road and The Rock,” chronicling his decades as a reporter and editor – is now between covers, as Ambrose...2025-02-1338 min
Spark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with The Hon. A. Gail Prudenti, Former Chief Administrative Judge, Courts of New York StateFew American jurists have assembled a career as influential or accomplished as the Honorable A. Gail Prudenti, the former Chief Administrative Judge of the Courts of New York State.
From her studies at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and her first job as a law clerk in the Suffolk County Surrogate’s Court to her days as a Suffolk prosecutor, her 20-plus years on the bench and her post-judgeship partnership at East Setauket-based family-law specialist Burner Prudenti Law, Gail has seen and done it all, inside the courtroom and out.
In today’s episode, the...2025-02-0434 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Linda Armyn, President and CEO of Bethpage Federal Credit UnionBethpage Federal Credit Union didn't rise to become a top-20 national credit union -- or increase its asset holdings from $1 billion to more than $13 billion -- by accident. It took a team of forward-thinking leaders and dedicated employees, working together to bulk up an institution that launched more than 80 years ago as a small neighborhood depository exclusively servicing Grumman employees.
Chief among them: Linda Armyn, who became Bethpage's president and CEO in August 2023. By then, she'd already spent decades as senior vice president for corporate affairs and chief strategy and marketing officer, positions key to the credit...2024-12-2742 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Dr. Henry Foley, President, New York Institute of TechnologyThe introduction of the school’s first PhD programs, the creation of a world-class biomedical-research facility, a major rebranding and a successful emergency pivot through the teeth of the COVID pandemic – and these are just some of the amazing accomplishments on the scorecard of New York Institute of Technology President Henry Foley.
After a seven-year presidential term, Dr. Foley – “Hank,” to friends and colleagues – has announced his retirement from the Old Westbury-based institute, effective next summer. But before he goes, New York Tech’s fourth-ever president still has plenty of major-league items on his to-do list.
In today’s e...2024-12-1540 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastTables Turned - an interview with Gregory Zeller, VP and Editor of InnovateLISmart branding and successful marketing usually go hand-in-hand … but what makes a brand “smart?” And in the cutthroat business of professional promotions, what defines “successful?”
These and other critical questions that can make or break a business marketing campaign are answered in this very special episode of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast – a classic switcheroo that sees Spark host Gregory Zeller sitting in the guest’s chair, as the interviewee on a recent episode of The Brandtelling Podcast.
Join hosts Arthur Germain and Asaf “The Brand Chef” Bachman as podcasts collide – and the...2024-12-1033 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with attorney John RayLong Island is blessed with many great attorneys, but not all are as studious, flamboyant or successful as John Ray of Miller Place – part Perry Mason, part Marlon Brando, always impressive.
With a ripped-from-the-headlines caseload and a long list of high-profile acting gigs, John has made a name for himself in and out of the courtroom over the last four-decades plus – and on the lacrosse field, too, where he continues to compete against players a quarter his age.
In today’s episode, the colorful counselor joins Spark Host Gregory Zeller...2024-04-1949 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Laura Curran former Nassau County ExecutiveLaura Curran has seen the world – but chose Nassau County as her home.
Born in Canada and raised everywhere, the once-and-future journalist was the first woman to serve as Nassau County executive, after early jobs reporting for New York City’s biggest tabloids and before her later career in podcasting and talk radio. As county exec, the Democrat – not always an ally of Albany’s liberal majority – took innovative approaches to Nassau’s raging property taxes, rising drug problems and rampant cronyism, before old political machinations took her down.
In today’s episode, Laura joins Spark host Gre...2023-10-1051 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Aleeia Abraham, founder of the BlaQue Resource NetworkBlack business is big business – and if you’re not “buying Black,” as the saying goes, you’re shortchanging your local community and the larger economy.
That’s the message of the BlaQue Resource Network and its founder, entrepreneur extraordinaire Aleeia Abraham, who’s on a mission to elevate and support her fellow Black business owners. Through popular events, shared promotions and other progressive positivity, the Queens College graduate has already rallied 25,000 networkers to this noble socioeconomic cause – and has big ideas about expanding her Queens-based efforts into Nassau and Suffolk.
In today’s episode, Aleeia joins Spark...2023-09-1832 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with David BattinelliDavid Battinelli is a hyper-productive engine of medical modernization, with a 28-page résumé – degrees, jobs, honorifics and more – to prove it.
As Northwell Health physician-in-chief and dean of the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, David plays leading roles in the shaping of Long Island’s biotech-centric identity – and the realization of the region’s best socioeconomic hopes.
In today’s episode, the diverse doctor joins Spark host Gregory Zeller to share his multiple front-row perspectives on the Long Island innovation economy – and his firm belief in the importance of preparing health...2023-08-2529 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn Interview with Laura Harding, President of ERASE RacismLaura Harding had some mighty big shoes to fill, succeeding Elaine Gross as president of Syosset-based equal-rights watchdog ERASE Racism.
But over her first 10 months on the job, fill them she has, running headlong into this new opportunity and leading the 22-year-old anti-discrimination organization through fresh inclusive-housing and education-funding initiatives.
In today’s episode, the attorney, social worker, seasoned social-justice advocate and "adopted Long Islander" joins Spark host Gregory Zeller to discuss her high-profile career, her faith in today’s youth and the importance of positivity – plus, the subtle power of injecting humor into difficult situat...2023-07-2147 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Lauren Sheprow, Mayor of the Village of Port JeffersonLauren Sheprow is a gifted communicator – so gifted, in fact, that she’s reanimated a long-dead lesson of American political science, brutally murdered by hate, ignorance and bullshit: Communication is always key.
After decades of highest-level strategic communications (professional tennis tournaments, major regional hospitals, a SUNY flagship university and more), Lauren is the new mayor of the Village of Port Jefferson – an upset victory the political neophyte (and former professional racquetball player) credits to excellent connections and an innate understanding of effective messaging.
In today’s episode, Lauren joins Spark host Gregory Zeller to discuss her well...2023-07-1034 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Dominic Coluccio, Director of Real Estate for Lesso Mall Development Long IslandAs director of real estate for Lesso Mall Development
Long Island, Dominic Coluccio’s primary responsibilities include vetting
potential tenants and negotiating sensitive lease agreements for Samanea New
York, a post-pandemic retail/dining/entertainment experience rising from the
ashes of a defunct Westbury shopping mall.
With Chinese parents, an exotic assortment of ethnic
foods and a second-generation Italian American pulling the strings, Samanea New
York has an undeniable international flair – and a monumental challenge to
overcome, as a brick-and-mortar shopping complex in the burgeoning E-Commerce
Age.
In today’s episode, Dominic joins Spark host Gregory
Zeller...2023-06-2336 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Johnny "Juice" Rosado, Legendary Hip Hop Artist and ProducerJohnny Rosado, known best by stage name DJ Johnny Juice, is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated musician – a composer, producer, turntablist, engineer and legendary “b-boy” who’s collaborated with some of the biggest names in the hip-hop genre. But that’s only part of his amazing resumé.
Packing engineering and computer-science degrees from the University of California San Diego, the U.S. Navy veteran is a “techie for techs” at a national security company and an instructor at a Uniondale nonprofit that introduces music production to Long Island youth. And he’s still a creative force of hip-hop music, including...2023-06-0840 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Marc Alessi, Executive Director of the Business Incubator Association of New York State (BIANYS)Marc Alessi may be the most diversified jewel of Long Island’s innovation crown. He’s a lawyer, ex-lawmaker, executive, entrepreneur, ace networker and –
perhaps most importantly – a true visionary, with a clear notion of Long Island’s best socioeconomic destiny and a roadmap to get there.
As executive director of the Business Incubator Association of New York State (BIANYS), he’s giving the future a running start. As director of the Tesla Science Center in Shoreham, he’s giving Long Island’s past its just due. And with a full slate of other commercializatio...2023-05-3040 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Walter Stockton, founder of the IGHL and the Kinexion NetworkWalter Stockton was born, raised and educated in Pennsylvania – but Long Island is his home and, thanks to his efforts, home to thousands of developmentally disabled Islanders who might otherwise wind up in an institutional horror house, or worse.
The founder of the Independent Group Home Living Program – and now the Kinexion Network, an umbrella management-service organization for a half-dozen major league Long Island nonprofits – has led a decades-long charge to improve professional services and residential opportunities for the developmentally disabled. And he’s done it through the teeth of recessions, pandemics and an ever-changing political climate.
In...2023-01-3136 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Robert Zimmerman, co-founder and co-president of ZE Creative CommunicationsRobert Zimmerman has been a household name on Long Island and beyond for decades, for all the right reasons – brilliant innovation across the professional-communications spectrum, fantastic business success, unblinking political commentary at the highest levels, compassionate crusades for numerous humanitarian causes.
Now he’s Victim No. 1 of a political crime that redefines sad, seedy and scary – not merely an insult to the people of Western Long Island, but another serious threat to our national democracy.
In today’s episode, the co-founder and co-president of ZE Creative Communications joins Spark host Gregory Zeller to discuss his trailbla...2023-01-1640 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn Interview with Ernie Canadeo, CEO of The EGC GroupErnie Canadeo is a dynamo of digital advertising, a champion of regional entertainment and quite possibly the most interesting man in Long Island innovation.
The founder and CEO of Melville-based integrated advertising agency The EGC Group and chairman of the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame has built a successful career around big names, big ideas and a lifelong love of great music. Mostly, he’s done it by having fun– an important lesson for entrepreneurs and business owners of all shapes and sizes.
In today’s episode, the marketing master joins Spark host G...2022-12-1726 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Eric Alexander, Director of Vision Long Island“Downtowns” and “Main Street USA” are 100-year-old concepts that can be easily lost in the modern shuffle. But while the personalities of downtown districts and main street markets have changed, their importance hasn’t.
These lessons are paramount to Eric Alexander, the longtime director of Vision Long Island and founder of the Long Island Main Street Alliance. Through 25 years of planning and lobbying efforts, the innovative influencer has boosted more than 150 Long Island infrastructure projects, always keeping his eye – and the eyes of local stakeholders – on important smart-growth principles.
In today’s episode, Eric joins Spark host Grego...2022-11-2534 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Dr. Kevin Tracey, President & CEO, Feinstein Institutes for Medical ResearchThe genius researcher, oft-published innovator and “father of bioelectronic medicine” spearheads a field of study that promises to permanently rewrite the medical textbooks: electric nerve stimulation.
Offering drug-free alternatives for the treatment of inflammation throughout the body – and the diseases and other conditions causing it – bioelectronic medicine attracts top minds and huge investments around the world. And nowhere is that more evident than the Manhasset-based Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the Northwell Health R&D mecca blazing trails under President and CEO Tracey’s steady hand.
In today’s episode, the global research rock star joins Spark...2022-10-3133 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Christian Gonzalez, producer of "The Macabre Sessions" radio showLike many creative geniuses, Christian Gonzalez borrowed liberally from established works when he created “The Macabre Sessions” – in this case, from the best of the horror and science-fiction genres.
But if the young digital artist mined Stephen King’s worst nightmares for inspiration, the end result – an original audio story set on Long Island, told over 13 super-creepy episodes with a full voice cast, sound effects, original music, growling monsters and interdimensional stakes – was all about 21st Century innovation.
In today’s special Halloween-themed episode, Christian joins Spark host Gregory Zeller to discuss how a Suffolk County Communi...2022-10-1728 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Elaine Gross, ERASE Racism founderAfter 21 years as president of ERASE Racism, founder Elaine Gross has handed the baton – and a two-decade legacy of litigious success and social progress – to a worthy successor.
The Long Island-raised Boston University graduate has made a career of racial justice in housing, education and other key areas, taking a graceful approach to an ongoing street fight that continuously exposes the ugly underbelly of systemic racism – and fosters progressive solutions in conjunction with lawmakers and educators across Long Island, New York and beyond.
In today’s episode, Elaine reflects on her long odyssey from civil rights c...2022-09-1938 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Andrew Parton, President of the Cradle of Aviation MuseumAndrew Parton was a banker before he landed at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, but no ordinary banker – the St. John’s University MBA had already carved a decades-long career in major-league marketing for some of the nation’s leading financial institutions.
That experience – and his childhood love of air and space, fueled equally by “Star Trek” and real-life NASA missions – made him the perfect person to spread the word about the Cradle of Aviation, a shining salute to the region’s glorious aerospace history and centerpiece of Long Island’s impressive Museum Row.
In today’s episode, A...2022-08-2233 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Dr. John Nader, President of Farmingdale State CollegeLong Island is blessed with a multitude of world-class colleges and universities and an impressive roster of all-world scholars to run them – and right at the top is Dr. John Nader, President of Farmingdale State College.
A veteran of the SUNY system and former mayor of the City of Oneonta, John – who doubles as co-chairman of the critically influential Long Island Regional Economic Development Council – has led Farmingdale State through six years of remarkable growth, expanding the college’s student body, physical footprint, industry/academic collaborations and cutting-edge programming.
In today’s episode, the highly optimistic...2022-08-0837 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Dawn Smallwood, Stony Brook University Chief of PoliceRaised by strong women with long careers in professional healthcare, Dawn Smallwood seemed destined to become a doctor. She even went to college to study biology. But fate had other ideas.
In January, the veteran law-enforcement officer – after decades in the service of the FBI, the NCIS and CUNY Public Safety – became chief of the Stony Brook University Police Department, the first woman to fill the role. As SBU’s top cop, she commands a 190-member department that serves and protects 26,000 students, staffers and visitors every single day, from dormitories to university stadiums to hospital ERs.
In t...2022-07-2642 min
Spark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Paule Pachter, Chief Executive Officer at Long Island Cares, The Harry Chapin Food BankWith some estimates counting more than 218,000 food-insecure Long Islanders, including 80,000 children, the Herculean efforts of Chief Executive Officer Paule Pachter and his team at Long Island Cares-The Harry Chapin Food Bank cannot be overstated.
The former deputy commissioner of the Nassau County Department of Mental Health, who earned a master’s degree in social work from Adelphi University, heads a massive rescue mission that annually manages millions of dollars in private and corporate donations and distributes more than 16 million pounds of food to children, seniors and veterans, among others in need.
In today’s conversation, Paul...2022-06-2341 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Robert Catell, a Long Island Socioeconomic IconRobert Catell is a living legend of the regional energy sector and an iconic influencer, across Long Island and beyond.
Starting as a junior engineer for Brooklyn Union Gas way back in 1958, Robert rose quickly through the ranks, prioritizing modernization and energy efficiency at every step. A savvy and respected leader, he was a key player in a multibillion-dollar merger that forever reshaped regional energy distribution – and since his “retirement” has only gotten busier, leading clean-gen crusades, advising startups, mentoring future leaders, helping to build Long Island’s best socioeconomic future.
In today’s episode, the former...2022-06-1632 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with former New York Knick, John WallaceJohn Wallace needs no introduction to fans of the Syracuse Orange or the New York Knicks – but you might not know how deeply the Rochester native’s roots run throughout New York State.
Since hanging up his professional sneakers, the one-time NCAA scoring machine has embarked on numerous professional and personal efforts designed to empower youth and promote social justice. A master communicator with a hard-earned degree in sociology, John has also carved out an impressive broadcasting career, while lending his compassion and intelligence to innovative workforce-development efforts on Long Island and beyond.
In today’s epis...2022-04-1334 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Donna Drake, Drake Media StudiosWelcome to the first-ever Long Island Multimedia Crossover Virtual Extravaganza, a groundbreaking collaboration between Drake Media Studios, Brandtelling and Innovate Long Island.
This episode of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast, featuring multimedia producer and talk show host Donna Drake, is also being recorded as a video segment for “The Donna Drake Show,” which is based on Long Island and syndicated across the United States and in 25 countries.
In this tech-savvy episode, Donna joins Spark host Gregory Zeller to discuss her successful program and her burgeoning Melville multimedia studios, and to introduce her viewers to the...2022-03-0733 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Paul Schwartz, Co-Founder & Director, ThermoLift, Inc.Paul Schwartz is an entrepreneur, a networker, a VC magnet and the co-founder of a company promising to revolutionize the heating and cooling industries: Stony Brook-based ThermoLift, home of the Hofbauer Thermal Compression Climate Control device.
The “TC3,” for short, eliminates toxic refrigerants and replaces older heating, cooling and hot-water systems with one energy-efficient machine that does it all – and does it with low (or zero) carbon emissions, powered by clean biofuels or hydrogen.
In today’s conversation, Paul joins Spark Host Gregory Zeller to discuss his partnership with legendary engineering master Peter Hofbauer, brushes with oth...2022-02-2230 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Kevin Law, Partner, EVP, Tritec Real EstateThe Long Island innovation economy has many leaders, but few as driven or accomplished as Kevin Law.
Known best as the longtime president and CEO of the Long Island Association, Kevin has amassed an amazing economic-development record across Long Island’s public and private sectors, helping to generate $5 billion in government and private infrastructure investments – a lawyer, planner, conservationist, business networker, affordable-housing spearhead and relentless soldier for Long Island’s myriad socioeconomic causes.
In today’s conversation, the nominee to lead Albany’s Empire State Development Corp. joins Spark Host Gregory Zeller to remember his most influ...2022-02-1533 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with David Chauvin, Executive Vice President of ZE Creative CommunicationsInnovate Long Island readers already know David Chauvin, executive vice president of ZE Creative Communications in Great Neck and a cornerstone of Innovate LI’s fantastic Voices column.
As our government and media expert, David has explored a wide breadth of accessible and important topics, ranging from social responsibility to the Millennial mindset to the importance of science over sensationalism, with a healthy exploration of social media’s risks and rewards. These topics, of course, cross his desk constantly at ZE Creative Communications, where David manages day-to-day operations and helps numerous clients share their best public face.
2022-01-3135 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Dr. Timothy Sams, President, State University of New York College at Old WestburyThis month marks one full year since Dr. Timothy Sams assumed the presidency of the State University of New York College at Old Westbury. And what a year it’s been.
Succeeding longtime president Dr. Calvin Butts III, Tim took over smack dab in the middle of the ever-changing COVID pandemic – a unique challenge for any new administrator, though it turns out his particular set of experiences with inclusive innovation and strategic change, and his decades of professional success at well-regarded universities, prepared Tim well.
In today’s conversation, the SUNY Old Westbury president joins Spark ho...2022-01-1037 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Mitch Maiman, president and cofounder of Intelligent Product SolutionsMitch Maiman truly needs no introduction to the Innovate Long Island audience. A fixture of Long Island innovation, he’s the president and cofounder of Intelligent Product Solutions, a Hauppauge-based product-development consultancy that’s carved a mighty niche as one of the region’s premier creator/enhancers.
Mitch has led the company since its 2007 launch and straight through its 2018 acquisition by Forward Industries, which actually relocated itself from Florida to Long Island to allow IPS to stay in its well-developed flow. Recognizing a job well done, the longtime president finally stepped down on Jan. 1, 2022 – but there are many itc...2021-12-2336 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastA conversation with Renee Flagler, Executive Director of Girls, Inc.Renee Flagler is knee-deep in partnerships and outreach efforts designed to help future socioeconomic innovators positively influence the world they inherit – specifically, the next generation of young professional women.
The teacher, award-winning writer and passionate public speaker is entering her fifth year as executive director of Girls Inc. of Long Island, the regional chapter of the national organization devoted to empowering girls to be strong, bold and self-confident in work and all facets of life.
In today’s conversation, Renee joins Spark Host Gregory Zeller to discuss community-based programming, critical capital campaigns and the “human duty o...2021-12-2029 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Brian Fried, The Inventor CoachBrian Fried is an inventor in the truest sense – a home-based tinkerer with a garage full of exciting contraptions, a real dedication to creating a better world and a fully realized sense of human nature.
Since he made his first commercial mark in 2007 with Pull Ties Fasteners – think “Twisty Ties: The Next Generation” – Brian has created podcasts, written books, launched professional consultancies and formed inventor clubs, all designed to help other makers commercialize their designs. What started as a monthly Suffolk County-based entrepreneurs club has now gone national, exponentially expanding Brian’s ability to help rookie inventors get where th...2021-12-0628 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Dr. Susan Poser, President, Hofstra UniversityChange is in the air at Hofstra University, where freshly minted President Dr. Susan Poser – the first woman to fill the post – has completed her first 100 days in office and is steaming toward a bold new future for Long Island’s largest private university.
A lawyer and long-experienced academician, Dr. Poser now runs what is, essentially, a small city: Hofstra boasts nearly 120 buildings across a sprawling 244-acre campus, with a student body of 10,000-plus and more than 2,500 staff and faculty members. And while she’s already impressed by the institution and its accomplishments, she’s promising some big change...2021-11-0829 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with David Hamilton, Executive Director of Stony Brook University’s Clean Energy Business Incubator ProgramStony Brook University cornerstone David Hamilton is one of the hardest workers in all of Long Island innovation.
As executive director of Stony Brook’s Clean Energy Business Incubator Program (the “incubator without walls”) and chief operating officer for the university’s Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (a New York State-funded Center of Excellence), he’s a teacher, a mentor, a master networker, a logistics expert and a team leader for dozens of early-stage energy and sustainability companies … exactly the kind of roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-’er-done type inexperienced entrepreneurs need to help them navigate the treacherous, unforgiving waters of business de...2021-10-2932 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastA spooky interview with Michael Cardinuto, co-founder of the Long Island Paranormal Investigators teamArmed with gallons of courage and the latest ghost-busting technology science can offer (forget the proton packs, this is serious stuff), the 17 volunteer members of the Long Island Paranormal Investigators team are knee-deep in the other side – facing fearsome phantoms and probing petrifying poltergeists in Long Island’s cemeteries, haunted houses and spooky woods.
Fiction, you say? Maybe. But co-founder Michael Cardinuto, a lead director at Westbury-based special-needs social-services agency Tiegerman Community Services, can tell you stories that will turn you white as a ghost: disembodied screams, mysterious hooded beings, demonic pig-lizards, shadow people and more, all here...2021-10-2033 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastLong Island Economic Progress with Terri Alessi-Micelli, President and CEO of HIA-LIWith its trendsetting tradeshows, forward-looking committees, 1,300-plus member companies and 11-square-mile industrial park – packed daily with more than 55,000 employees – the HIA-LI (formerly the Hauppauge Industrial Association of Long Island) ranks among Long Island’s most powerful economic engines.
As its face, voice and guiding hand, President and CEO Terri Alessi-Micelli occupies a prominent spot in the Long Island zeitgeist and plays a critical role in the Island’s ever-evolving quest for economic progress. Pulling the HIA-LI’s strings since 2004, Terri has led the government-lobbying group and regional networking lynchpin through significant changes – and headfirst into the digital age.
...2021-10-1231 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Dr. Christine Riordan, Ph.D, President of Adelphi UniversityDeep in the Galactically Underrated File sits Adelphi University, a 125-year-old private institution that is routinely overlooked on an Island heavy with world-class universities and laboratories – though not by U.S. News & World Report, which ranks Adelphi a top college for veterans, nursing students, career guidance, social mobility and other key categories that define the nation’s best schools.
Keeping Adelphi, it’s roughly 8,000 students and its impressive academic staff ticking is Dr. Christine Riordan, an internationally acclaimed leadership-development expert who in 2015 became the first woman to serve as the Garden City-based university’s president. A former Universi...2021-06-2130 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Matt Cohen, president and CEO of The Long Island AssociationThe Long Island Association has a new leader – but the LIA is hardly new to Matthew Cohen, the freshly minted president and CEO who’s already logged a decade with Long Island’s largest business and networking organization, primarily as its government relations director.
Matt takes over at a touch-and-go time for the 95-year-old association, with the nation emerging from the COVID pandemic and socioeconomic stakeholders jockeying for position in the so-called “new normal.” He’s uniquely suited to the job: The new head honcho has also directed government relations for the Long Island Power Authority and spent years...2021-06-2118 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Kenneth Bowes, Vice President for Offshore Wind Siting and Permitting at Eversource EnergyExciting socioeconomic winds are blowing across the nation, and nowhere do those forward-looking gales blow harder than Long Island, where offshore wind-generated electricity is foremost on the minds of private corporations, local governments, top universities and national laboratories, all jockeying for position in the clean-gen power play of the next century.
Among those surfing the winds: Eversource Energy, a New England-based utility (and Fortune 500 company) with about 4 million retail electricity, natural gas and water-service customers on land and some serious ambitions at sea. Partnering with Danish multinational power company Orsted, Eversource is developing three offshore-wind farms in...2021-06-0824 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Arthur Germain, Principal of Communication Strategy GroupThe Angels had Charlie, that time-traveling dude in Quantum Leap had a Dean Stockwell hologram, Spider-Man has his best buddy Ned and here on Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast, we are absurdly lucky to have Arthur Germain as our “man in the chair.”
An innovator, entrepreneur and a bona fide genius, Arthur is cut from the classic ink-stained writer/editor mold, with a modern-day finish. He launched Communication Strategy Group in 2005 as an experiment combining boutique-firm intimacy with folksy storytelling; flash forward 16 years, one drawn-out Great Recession and a corporation-clobbering global pandemic, and CSG is still goin...2021-06-0136 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Mitch Pally, CEO of the Long Island Builders Instituteconstant voice for economic and environmental balance. Mitchell Pally has been the cornerstone institute’s chief executive since 2010, adding another important and influential role to a curriculum vitae that’s absolutely packed with them.
A former New York State senator, Mitch held numerous positions in the State Legislature throughout the latter 20th century, helping to draft a first-in-the-nation seatbelt law, among other progressive legislation. For 14 years, he masterminded governmental affairs for the Long Island Association, the Island’s largest business and civic organization, after directing the LIA’s legislative and economic efforts for seven years. From 2005 to 2019, he was S...2021-05-2431 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Ann-Marie Scheidt, Director of Economic Development at Stony Brook UniversityAnn-Marie Scheidt is a one-woman economic engine, one of the most vital cogs in Long Island’s entire socioeconomic apparatus. A relentless innovator and supporter of innovators, she is personally responsible for more than $25 million in federal and state funds flowing into regional economic-development proposals she herself authored or co-authored.
And that barely scratches the surface for this Yale University graduate and Stony Brook University PhD, now the director of economic development at the university where she earned her PhD in History of American Foreign Relations. Occupying too many director’s board and advisory board positions to list...2021-05-1833 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Debra Markowitz, Producer & Director, Intention Films and MediaDebra Markowitz is a study in innovation – personally, technologically, even economically, as in, the Nassau County economy, which now benefits from $169 million in annual economic activity from local film and TV production, a number that grew steadily (and dramatically, wink) during Debra’s 33 years as Nassau County Film Commissioner.
Now home to multiple Hollywood-grade production studios, Nassau boasts more production days than any other New York county except Manhattan, with regional support businesses of every size and type along for the ride. Behind all that economic mojo: Debra, who retired earlier this year from the Nassau County Film...2021-04-2827 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Rosalie Drago, Suffolk County Long Island Commissioner of Labor, Licensing and Consumer AffairsRegular Innovate Long Island readers know this name – Rosalie Drago has long energized regional workforce and socioeconomic initiatives, previously as Long Island director of the nonprofit Workforce Development Institute and now as the Suffolk County commissioner of labor, licensing and consumer affairs.
As the head of a busy and influential 160-person Labor Department in the nation’s 26th most-populated county, the rookie officeholder has faced many unique challenges – pandemic-related and otherwise – since her March 2020 swearing-in. As the first woman to fill the office, she senses an important opportunity to influence impressionable young women on...2021-03-2925 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Dr. James Hayward, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, Applied DNA SciencesAs COVID-19 circumnavigated the globe, scientists representing many disciplines rose to meet it. Among them: James Hayward and the incredible minds at Stony Brook-based Applied DNA Sciences, where long experience and a unique technology set the pace.
A molecular biologist by trade, Hayward brings decades of biotech and consumer-product experience to his roles as chairman, president and CEO. Applied DNA cut its teeth as a DNA-based supply chain authenticator – creating forgery-proof DNA markers and next-generation tracking technology – and is now a primary supplier to worldwide laboratories and researchers keen on COVID and other scientific challenges.
In t...2021-03-2924 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens Campaign for the EnvironmentIf you’ve ever seen a protest or press conference advocating for Long Island environmental justice, you’ve seen Adrienne Esposito, at the microphone, way out in front of the politicians and philanthropists, dispensing wisdom and cracking wise.
Now in her 17th year as executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Adrienne is a lobbying and public-education force across Long Island and Connecticut, with groundwater protection, carbon reduction, coastal fortification and a host of other critical issues in mind, and an alternative-energy future – including Long Island’s promising position in the nation’s offshore-wind infrastructure – in her heart...2021-03-2929 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Michael Dowling, CEO, Northwell HealthFor all intents and purposes, America’s COVID-19 pandemic started in New York. That put Nassau County-based Northwell Health, the state’s largest healthcare system and the nation’s 14th largest, on the front lines from Day One.
Leading that fight is CEO Michael Dowling, who turned Northwell into New York State’s largest private employer – and steered Northwell through the crisis – leveraging lessons learned in the hardscrabble Irish village of his youth, in Albany’s corridors of power and over 20 years in the C suite.
In today’s conversation, Michael joins Spark host Gregory Zeller to discus...2021-03-2931 minSpark: The InnovateLI PodcastAn interview with Marlene McDonnell, President of InnovateLIAnyone who’s done Long Island business over the last quarter century knows Marlene McDonnell – the former events director for Long Island Business News, the two-decade member of the Long Island Business Development Council (including a long stint as LIBDC administrator and Executive Board member) and the president of Innovate Long Island.
Marlene, of course, took over when Innovate LI founder John Kominicki – her longtime business partner and mentor – passed suddenly in 2017. Since then, she’s helped Kominicki’s creation survive and thrive, welcoming new sponsors and an ever-growing audience as it rockets through its sixth year of covering...2021-03-2927 min