Business

WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville is once again looking to fill the historic Porter Building in downtown. City officials on Nov. 12 released a request for proposals (RFP) for the sale or long-term lease of the two-story, 15,000-square-foot building at the corner of Main and Maple...

WATSONVILLE—A huge line of vehicles is almost constant now in front of A&S Metals on West Beach Street. It’s one of few spots the public can cash in its recyclables, which, for some, have been piling up around the house since the novel coronavirus shuts...

It has not been an easy harvest season for California apples. When temperatures shot up into the 100s in August and September, sparking wildfires across the state and harming numerous agricultural commodities, apples were one of the hardest-hit crops. The fruit is susceptible to...

George Couch was an ambitious 25-year-old when he came to Watsonville in 1973 and negotiated a deal to purchase a small Anheuser-Busch distributorship. It would not stay small for long. His company Couch Distributing, which he runs with his brother Geoff, has since 1973 delivered...

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,”...

Once home to the Stoesser Building, the lot has been empty since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused irreparable damage to the historic structure in the heart of Watsonville’s downtown.

The Pajaro Valley is best known for its agriculture but its craft brew scene is also starting to demand some attention. This short but strong list of breweries and taprooms around the Watsonville area are key stops on anyone’s tour through California’s bountiful brew...

The Hiccuping Dragon is a small hot dog stand nestled in Rio Del Mar Esplanade. With a beachside real estate, ocean views and a steady crowd of hungry beachgoers, Hammond couldn’t have picked a better spot for his four-month-old stand.

WATSONVILLE—More than 100 people convened on Zoom on June 18 for the grand opening of a new center dedicated to women in business. The El Pájaro Community Development Corporation (El Pájaro CDC) has launched a Regional Women’s Business Center (RWBC) in Watsonville, with plans to...

With the pandemic outbreak, most of us heard this warning many times: Stay at home. But that could have been softened a little bit with: “Stay at home and in the garden.” Because, for many of us, that’s what happened: People started plowing deep...