Business

By Abigail Acosta, Special to the Pajaronian WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville is hoping recent additions to its Cannabis Equity Program will spark a time of opportunity for the city’s minority cannabis business owners. First approved by the City Council in 2019, the equity program was put...

When the pandemic first hit, many retail stores across the globe were forced to shut down their brick-and-mortar locations and transitioned to online shopping, using virtual platforms to display and sell items. For Sindy Hernandez, designer and owner of Queen’s Shoes & More in Watsonville,...

WATSONVILLE—A proposed redevelopment of the vacant Gottschalks building in the heart of downtown will come to the Watsonville Planning Commission during its Oct. 6 meeting. Navigator Schools, the parent organization of local charter school Watsonville Prep, and the Hansen Family Trust are teaming up to...

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....

If you’ve ever strolled through Pioneer Cemetery in Watsonville, you might have come across the final resting place of Charley Darkey Parkhurst, a stagecoach driver, farmer and rancher who has become a local legend since their death in 1879. Born Charlotte Darkey Parkhurst, Charley was...

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...

WATSONVILLE—In November Uriel Mendoza of Watsonville will mark 21 years of being a bus driver for Santa Cruz METRO. When asked what he liked about his job, he plainly responded, “My job.”  His preferred bus route? “I like all of them,” he said. He said his customers are...

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—When Bike Santa Cruz County approached South County officials to start up a monthly community bike ride, Watsonville Cyclery owner Julian “Jules” Mandujano was eager to get involved. Every last Friday of the month, Mandujano offers up his business at 25 East 5th St. as...