Quick Take
A project that gets elementary school students up close with Santa Cruz County businesses leads off Jessica M. Pasko’s weekly column, which also covers downtown changes, comings and goings, dates to know and more.
Each week, we’re taking a closer look at the movers and shakers, the growth of industries and what’s really driving the Santa Cruz County economy. I’ll be spotlighting some of the biggest areas for opportunity, updates on local development and all things underpinning the regional business scene each Wednesday.
Got ideas? Send them my way to [email protected] with “Business News” in the subject line.
Third graders get firsthand look at entrepreneurship through Gateway School program
Nine-year-old Nakoa Leung-Tao hasn’t decided what he wants to be when he grows up, but owning a bookstore is among the options he’s considering after getting a chance to learn from Two Birds Books owner Gary Butler.
Leung-Tao and his fellow third graders at Gateway School in Santa Cruz recently had the opportunity to gain deeper insight into what running a local business looks like, thanks to an annual program now in its 36th year. Each year, students like Leung-Tao are partnered with local business owners and employees; the students interview the business owners and report their findings to their classmates. It’s a chance for them to not just learn about running a business, but also about their community, said teacher Kaia Huseby. The students also get to hone their writing and communication skills and become more comfortable speaking with adults, she said.
Each student gets to pick the business owner or employee they want to interview. The only restrictions are that it must be a locally owned business; no international or national chains. This year, the school’s 25 third graders picked local businesses that ranged from Waves & Fades Barbershop to Game Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz City Youth Soccer Club and Cameron Marks, a boutique on the Westside of Santa Cruz. Students typically pick businesses they have a connection with – a restaurant they enjoy eating at or a store they go to with their family. For Leung-Tao, an avid reader and frequent patron, Two Birds Books in Pleasure Point was a no-brainer.
“The bookstore is really, really close to my house and it has most of the books I like,” the soon-to-be fourth grader said. “I’ve been there a bunch of times.”
Leung-Tao said that interviewing Butler made him think that owning a bookstore would be a great career, especially with the chance to read in the downtime between dealing with customers. But he also thought that processing credit cards seemed really hard.
Butler, who started the bookstore with his wife, Denise Silva, in late 2020, said he was flattered to be picked to participate in the third grader’s project and impressed that an elementary school student was interested in a bookstore. He was especially impressed by how Leung-Tao conducted his interview, taking careful notes and really absorbing what he said.
It’s those communication skills that Huseby thinks are one of the most important takeaways of this yearly program, which she’s been participating in since she started teaching at Gateway 17 years ago.
“I love seeing the kids’ excitement and motivation, even just in choosing a business and thinking about which business they want to spend some time studying,” she said. “I love seeing their journey from feeling nervous about the project [in the beginning] to the end, when they write and present their final report … that’s thrilling for me as a teacher to see.”
Starting in March, the students pick their business and engage their families for help in setting up interviews. They’re allowed some help with note-taking, but Huseby and her fellow third-grade teacher, Sarah Hernandez, really encourage the students to do the actual interviews themselves. They’re given a list of eight questions to focus on, including “what do you do on a day-to-day basis?” and “what is most challenging about this business?” Along the way, students share their experiences and tricks of the trade with their peers and in May, they present their reports to their classmates and share a copy with the business owners they interviewed.
“The students learn confidence through the interview process,” Huseby said. “It’s learning that you can go out into the community and ask people questions and listen carefully and learn so much about how a business works.”
For the business owners who participate, like Butler, it’s also a way to forge connections with some of the community’s youngest members and inspire their own entrepreneurial dreams.
ICYMI: Santa Cruz Warriors’ sleek new arena gets downtown neighbors talking
A major expansion of downtown Santa Cruz includes a planned new home for the Santa Cruz Warriors. The proposed venue would replace the Warriors’ current home at Kaiser Permanente Arena, with a new 180,000-square-foot structure that would increase seating capacity by almost 500 seats.
Last week, photojournalist Kevin Painchaud hit the streets to see what residents think of the proposal, which the team recently shared conceptual plans for. Check out his video here.
You can see all of our recent coverage of the changes happening in downtown Santa Cruz here.
Ch-ch-changes: Openings, closings and other developments
- Driscoll’s appoints global chief communications officer: Watsonville-based berry giant Driscoll’s has selected Frances Dillard as the company’s first global chief communications officer. Dillard, who began the role earlier this month, previously served as the company’s vice president of marketing. She joined the company in 2011. In her new role, she will oversee media relations, reputation management, executive visibility and more across the global company.
- Grocery Outlet to open in Capitola next month: Discount grocery chain Grocery Outlet has planned a grand opening celebration on June 19 for its new Capitola store. The company took over the former New Leaf Community Markets location at 1210 41st Ave., after New Leaf moved to nearby King’s Plaza.
- Santa Cruz Works hires new chief operating officer: Investor and tech veteran John Tran was named the new chief operating officer at Santa Cruz Works, a nonprofit hub for tech entrepreneurs in Santa Cruz County. Tran spent several years working in early-stage startups, earned a doctorate from Michigan State University and helped build one of the Midwest’s most active venture funds, the Red Cedar Ventures and Michigan Rise fund. In his new role, he’ll focus largely on raising corporate sponsorship funds to support and expand Santa Cruz Accelerates, Santa Cruz Work’s program to help startups and early entrepreneurs.
- Watsonville’s police chief plans retirement: Watsonville Police Chief Jorge Zamora is retiring from law enforcement as of Aug. 30. Zamora, who was appointed the city’s 16th chief of police in 2021, has spent almost three decades in law enforcement. Assistant Chief David Rodriguez will step in as interim chief following Zamora’s retirement.
Got hires, promotions, or departures to report? Send them to [email protected] with the subject line “Career changes.”
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Looking at the numbers
- Almost 30 years: That’s how long the two proprietors of the new Emilie and the Frenchies cafe in Aptos have been friends. Mary Jane Dean and Céline Molière met as teenagers when Dean’s family hosted Molière as an exchange student from France. Check out Lily Belli’s sweet story here.
Save the date
- Thursday, May 29: The Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture will hold a business mixer at California Coffee, 9105 Soquel Dr., Aptos. The evening includes networking, live music and refreshments, and runs from 5 to 7 p.m.
- Wednesday, June 4: Santa Cruz Works will hold a summer mixer on the roof of the Anton Pacific apartments at 800 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, from 6 to 8 p.m. The evening will include networking with the top CruzHacks and Santa Cruz Launchpad teams, who will share their new innovations. Tickets are $23.18 and are available here.
- Friday, June 6: Internet service provider Cruzio will mark its 35th anniversary with a party from 5 to 8 p.m. at its headquarters at 877 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. The free event includes live music, food and drinks, local vendor booths and community breakout sessions with local leaders.
- Wednesday, June 11: The Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Bandit Systems’ new office at 1320 Mission St., Santa Cruz. The event takes place from 5 to 7 p.m. Bandit Systems provides advanced video surveillance and security systems. Details and tickets here.
- Saturday, July 26: The Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture will hold its annual awards dinner and auction. The event takes place from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. Details and tickets here.
Add your business or networking events to Lookout’s free public calendar, BOLO. Click here to add your event.
Business news worth reading
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