Business

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Though some rural counties are allowing restaurants to open for dine-in service, Santa Cruz County officials are still several days away from giving their restaurateurs the green light. That’s according to county spokesman Jason Hoppin, who on Tuesday said testing and contact tracing...

A crew from Randazzo Enterprises use an excavator to demolish the National 9 Motel in downtown Watsonville Wednesday to make way for a four-story, 80-room Hilton Home2 Suites hotel. Approved as a La Quinta Inn by the Watsonville City Council in 2016 and revised...

WATSONVILLE—A new program has launched at Envision Fitness & Nutrition in downtown Watsonville, aiming to support youth by teaching them about health, wellness, stress management and more. Envision opened in 2020, during the height of the pandemic. They began with virtual health and fitness classes,...

Monterey Mushrooms presented 167 children of its employees with $226,500 in scholarship awards for the 2017-18 academic year.

WATSONVILLE—California Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) has announced the launch of a new business center in Watsonville for women entrepreneurs. El Pájaro Women’s Business Center (WBC) will be formed through El Pájaro Community Development Corporation (CDC), a local nonprofit organization aiming to promote equal access...

WATSONVILLE—The city of Watsonville is expected to resume negotiations with the Pajaro Valley Arts (PVA) Council for the sale of the Porter Building after no affordable housing developers showed serious interest in the historic landmark. Watsonville and PVA earlier this year had begun early discussions...

WATSONVILLE—The Covid-19 pandemic has not yet been as harsh on Watsonville’s economy as predicted, but Finance Department Director Cindy Czerwin at Tuesday’s City Council meeting said it is still too early to “feel totally confident” about the City’s financial future. The City’s sales tax revenues...

"Try This" is a weekly column that celebrates local businesses — especially eateries, watering holes, coffee shops and the like. Johanna Miller Food: Ambrosia India Bistro Even though it’s been many years since Little India left the East Lake Village Shopping Center, I still miss having such a great,...

WATSONVILLE—Meridian, a Walnut Creek-based real estate developer, operator, and owner of medical properties, announced Monday that it has closed escrow on the sale of its new construction, a 11,424-square-foot outpatient dialysis clinic in Watsonville. The purchase price for the project was $6.7 million.  The outpatient clinic...

Two weeks ago, Amelia Loftus, owner of Hidden Fortress Coffee Roasting, was on the brink of closing her cafe in Watsonville just shy of its five-year anniversary. The shop, located at the end of a sleepy business complex on Hangar Way, had been struggling to...