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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | S e p t e m b e r / O c t o b e r 2 0 1 9 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 3 F R O M T H E E D I T O R newhavenBIZ Volume 2 • Number 7 • September/October 2019 New Haven Biz 900 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 06510 (203)-937-2148 • www.newhavenbiz.com EDITOR Michael C. Bingham MANAGING EDITOR Michelle Tuccitto Sullo CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jessica Giannone Holly Marie LaPrade Melissa Nicefaro Natalie Missakian Wendy Pierman Mitzel Frank Rizzo Makayla Silva Karen Singer DESIGN DIRECTOR Mitchell Hayes PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Kira Beaudoin PHOTOGRAPHY Christopher Randall Andrew Venditti DIRECTOR OF SALES AND STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS Ronni Rabin PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER Joe Zwiebel CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Peter Stanton CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER/CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Mary Rogers GROUP PUBLISHER Donna Brassard DIGITAL DIRECTOR Jan Holder AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Kelly Ansley EDITORIAL DIRECTOR - CT Greg Bordonaro NEW HAVEN BIZ (ISSN 2639-605X), Vol. I, No. 4 is published six times annually plus two special editions by New England Business Media, 900 Chapel St., 10th Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. Copyright 2018. All rights reserved. Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available for $29.95. To subscribe please email circulation@newhavenbiz.com or contact our circulation team at 203-937-2148 ext. 4 New Haven BIZ accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or materials and in general does not return them to the sender. A division of: Advertising: Ronni Rabin phone: 203-937-2148 ( x707) rrabin@newhavenbiz.com New Haven BIZ is a publication of New England Business Media, LLC. P erhaps no city in America has a richer history of invention or unquenchable spirit of innovation than New Haven, Connecticut. e average schmoe in East Porkchop, Iowa may not know about Louis Lassen's claim to creat- ing the hamburger, or the Frisbee's pie-plate roots on the greenswards of Yale — but he probably knows about Eli Whitney and his cotton gin, which revolutionized agricul- ture and transformed the economy of the southern United States. Readers of a certain age will fond- ly recall tinkering with one of A.C. Gilbert's Erector Sets as a child (and know why they call a particular Fair Haven commercial complex Erector Square). American history buffs know Oliver Winchester's Model 1873 rifle as the Gun that Won the West. ose who know their New Haven commercial history may recall that the first telephone exchange started operation here in 1878, though fewer may know the name of the innovator most closely associated with it (George Coy). But did you know that New Ha- ven is the birthplace, too, of the lol- lipop (or, as it was known a century ago, "Lolly Pop")? So, so true — and you can read all about it on p. 50. What has made the City of Elms such a fertile ecosystem for invention almost since its found- ing in 1638? Is it geography, as a port town whose lifeblood was its link to the outside world? Was it our foundational role in Amercan higher education — especially aer the Collegiate School relocated here from Old Saybrook in 1716? Is it even (as more than a few have suggested) the water? Whatever — it's real. And in 2019 there are ample institutions and initiatives that reflect that mission and heritage. Recently District New Haven (itself an "innovation" incu- bator) started the nonprofit District Wanna start something? is is the place Innovation Venture Center to link workforce development programs with the needs of the technology center. e Tsai Center for Innova- tive inking at Yale (Tsai CITY, see p. 9) marked its second anniversary. Also two years ago, the city was designated an official "Innovation Place" by CTNext, which recognizes particular communities as centers of entrepreneurship and innova- tion, and awards some seed money to help them become magnets for talent and launching pads for growth-stage companies. e list goes on. Whatever qualities and charac- teristics one credits for New Haven's legacy of innovation, the irreduc- ible element, always, is its people — skeptical, striving, dissatisfied, a little insecure — and never, ever smug or self-satisfied. at's not such a bad set of personal traits to hang our collective hats on. As always, I invite you to write to me at mbingham@newhavenbiz. com n Michael C. Bingham Editor New Haven BIZ

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