FIRST® Long Island, formerly School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI), was founded by Frederick Breithut in 1984.  Its vision is to create partnerships between schools, businesses and community organizations to embrace school curriculum that inspires students to pursue careers in technology, engineering and science. Since its inception, FIRST® Long Island has helped students from more than 100 schools partner with Long Island businesses to provide over 30,000 internships, jobs and other close relationships with local companies.

To achieve its mission, in 1999, FIRST® Long Island partnered with FIRST – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, a national program that mentors students to become leaders in technology-related industries.  The programs hosted on Long Island by FIRST® Long Island include:

FIRST® Robotics Competition

FIRST® Tech Challenge

FIRST® LEGO League Challenge

FIRST® LEGO League Explore

The FIRST® Robotics Long Island Regional Competition grew from eight teams in 1999 to more than 50 teams today.

Many of the high school participants have received prestigious scholarships from FIRST to attend college in a technology or science field. In 2010, FIRST® Long Island launched its own scholarship program, the Fred Breithut Scholarship for students pursuing a degree in engineering, science or technology at Farmingdale State College.

Currently, FIRST® Long Island seeks to expand its roots, strengthen relationships with corporate mentors and sponsors and to encourage internships that follow students into their college years and match them with local businesses to bolster the Long Island workforce.