Business

The federal government is preparing to open two new industry-specific small-business relief programs, one of them months in the works, as its signature pandemic aid effort, the Paycheck Protection Program, nears its end. The Small Business Administration said it hopes to start taking applications by...

WATSONVILLE—Monterey Bay Caterers, a long-standing business in the Pajaro Valley which operated as a catering business and a restaurant, is for sale. Owner Ken Schwan said a combination of things led to his decision. He’ll be 64 next month, and his recent motorcycle crash that...

Staff of Life natural food store opened its second location Tuesday, a little more than two years after announcing it would make the move to the East Lake Village Shopping Center in Watsonville. Dozens of local leaders showed to the ribbon cutting ceremony Monday,...

Winemaker Alex Prikazsky says it had always been a dream of her father, Bob Prikazsky, to open a winery someday. “My folks would go tasting on the weekends,” she said. “We’d go to wine auctions together. There was always this idea in the back of...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—As Thanksgiving edges closer, the folks at Corralitos Market & Sausage Co. and Freedom Meat Lockers say now is the time to get orders dialed in. “I’ve been at this since April, getting ready and dealing with supply, price changes and everything else,”...

ROYAL OAKS—It was the early 1920s when Glenn Church’s great-grandfather, Clinton King, purchased a piece of land in a heavily-wooded area of North Monterey County. Nearly 70 years old at the time, King cleared out the plot—chock full of oak trees—by hand. “Whenever I’m out here...

APTOS—In her more than two decades of working with nonprofit organizations, C.J. Runyon spent eight years with Walu International, which among other things helps provide hand-washing stations to rural communities in Papua New Guinea and Nicaragua, where poor sanitation leads to a myriad of...

SACRAMENTO—Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that the state will provide temporary tax relief for eligible businesses that have been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. Under the plan, taxpayers filing less than $1 million in sales tax receive an automatic three-month income tax extension. It also...

WATSONVILLE—A new business featuring a meat counter, a taqueria, fresh produce, a dairy section and a wide range of groceries recently opened on East Lake Avenue near Holohan Road. The store, called Farmers Market, also boasts a panaderia—or bakery— that features freshly baked Mexican pastries...

WATSONVILLE—When Santa Cruz-based natural foods store Staff of Life opened its second location in Watsonville in March, employees from Sambrailo were pleased to see their products featured front and center. Fresh, organic vegetables and fruit in the store’s produce aisle were nestled inside Sambrailo’s sustainable...