Losing both young people and young companies is not exactly a prescription for a healthy Long Island economy. Now, at least, we’re on the verge of making progress on one of the two: spawning and keeping high-tech companies here.
To stop being a net exporter of start-up firms, and to make Long Island competitive, as President Barack Obama urged the nation to be competitive in his State of the Union speech last week, we’ll have to harness business and our uniquely powerful axis of research institutions together.
One promising step is Accelerate Long Island, an initiative announced on Tuesday by Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko, key research institutions and the Island’s leading business organization, the Long Island Association. Another is an effort by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to position Long Island to win new federal grants for innovation. Read more