Business

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—California health officials on Tuesday moved Santa Cruz County into the less restrictive “Moderate” or Orange tier, meaning that several businesses can reopen and welcome in more customers. The move means that the county is seeing 1-3.9 new cases per 100,00 in population....

Ahn and his wife, Soon Ja, recently opened Kong’s Burgers & Café at El Pájaro Community Development Corporation’s Plaza Vigil business incubator in downtown Watsonville.

After being served with a 30-day notice in July, Aptos Coffee Roasting Co. celebrated its long run in the Rancho Del Mar Center on Aug. 19 — its final day — with free coffee beverages and free pound-bags of coffee for all.

APTOS—As a young man, Bapcha Murty moved from his native Chennai, India to attend UC Los Angeles and become an engineer. He went on to a career in the Silicon Valley tech industry that spanned more than two decades in several companies. But when Murty...

WATSONVILLE—Since 2018, Watsonville-based nonprofit Digital NEST has hosted NEST Flight, a career development conference aiming to inspire young professionals and propel their careers. The event features speakers, workshops, panel discussions, networking opportunities and more for people ages 17-24. During the conference, attendees have the opportunity...

CAPITOLA—Pier 1 Imports announced Tuesday that it will close all 540 of its stores nationwide, sell its inventory and liquidate its assets. The sales will begin at the Capitola store as soon as the Santa Cruz County Health Department allows it to open. The company’s website...

Digital NEST earned national attention this month when it was named the featured charity for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, one of golf’s most watched events.

It has been 13 years since Jaimi Jansen opened the first location of Santa Cruz Core, an integrated wellness center in downtown Santa Cruz.  At that time, Jansen was just 26 years old and planning to eventually go to medical school. But as the business...