This week in Santa Cruz County business: economic inequality, storm recovery and The Midway opens

Each week, we’ll be 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 news@lookoutlocal.com with “Business News” in the subject line.

Is the Monterey Bay region an inclusive economy? A new report dives deep into the progress and next steps

Affordable housing, education and digital access remain some of the biggest areas for improvement in Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties as government, nonprofit and industry leaders look for creative solutions to expand availability and grapple with ongoing inequities. 

A new study by the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) takes a deeper look at the tri-county region through the lens of indicators like education, health, housing, racial inequities and more. The study, “Building an Inclusive Economy in the Monterey Bay Region: A Progress Report,” developed by UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of Social Transformation, is a snapshot of the efforts being made that also highlights areas for improvement, said MBEP’s CEO and president, Tahra Goraya. 

The report evaluates the region through a framework for inclusive economies, which are defined as an economic system that includes everyone, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational attainment and other traits. The framework, developed by the Rockefeller Foundation, comprises five characteristics: equitable, participatory, sustainable, stable and growing. 

Among the study’s findings:

• Greenhouse gas emissions are decreasing, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement: Greenhouse emissions per capita saw a decrease of over 20% in all three counties within the past decade.
• More people are getting bachelor’s degrees, but racial inequities persist: Across all racial groups, the percentage of people 25 years and older who’ve received a four-year college degree or higher has increased since 2010. Women are more likely to have bachelor’s degrees or higher than men, but the numbers vary greatly by race. For instance, while 50.5% of non-hispanic white women reported having at least a bachelor’s degree in 2021, just 12.7% of women who identify as Latina/Hispanic did the same.
• White and Asian residents are more likely to be homeowners than other racial groups: Among those identifying as non-hispanic white or Asian, the percentage of residents who own homes rose from 61-63% to just over 64% in the past decade. The rate of homeownership among Hispanic and Black residents hovers around 40-45%.
• Chronic absenteeism for K-12 students has dramatically increased: Among all racial groups, chronic absenteeism – defined as the percentage of students who were absent for 10% or more of the time –  increased significantly between 2020 and 2022. For Latino/Hispanic students, that rate went from 14% pre-pandemic to more than 30% in 2022. 

Read more here

ICYMI: Storm damages restaurants in Aptos, Capitola again

Less than a year after winter storms pummeled parts of Capitola and Aptos, last week saw more punishing weather. For businesses still reeling from the damage in January 2023, it was especially disheartening. 

As Lily Belli reported, one business owner, Patrick Lunn, had yet to reopen after January’s storms when his restaurant, Bay Bar & Grill, sustained additional damage last week. He’d just finished putting in new floors, which will now need to be replaced again. 

Ch-ch-changes: Openings, closings and other developments

• The Midway opens in midtown: Chef Katherine Stern’s long-awaited brick-and-mortar restaurant opened late last week in the former location of Oyunaa’s Mongolian Cuisine, next to the Rio Theatre on Soquel Avenue. Lookout’s Lily Belli has more about the new spot here.

Got hires, promotions or departures to report? Send them to news@lookoutlocal.com with the subject line “Career changes.”

Looking at the numbers

• 5 days: That’s the minimum number of days of sick leave workers in California will now receive thanks to a new law that went into effect Jan. 1, bumping it up from three days. Workers will accrue the minimum once they’ve been employed for 200 days. 
• $16: That’s the new minimum wage in California as of Jan. 1, marking an increase of 50 cents.
• $1: That’s how much an AI-driven chatbot deployed by a car dealership in Watsonville was initially tricked into accepting as the purchase price for a brand-new Chevy in a viral prank according to a recent Business Insider article. Fullpath, the creator of the chatbot, said it would be making improvements based on what the prank uncovered. No brand new cars were really sold for $1. 

Save the date

• Jan. 6 and 20: The La Selva Beach library hosts John Hunt, a UC Davis research aquatic toxicologist, for a two-part series on the impacts of climate change. Details here.
• Jan. 10: The annual Titans of Tech event honors the individuals who have contributed to the local tech and entrepreneur community from 6 to 8 p.m. at Kuumbwa Jazz Center. Details and tickets available here.
• April 25: The Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce will host its annual job fair and business expo at the Santa Cruz County fairgrounds from 4 to 7 p.m. More info here.

Add your business or networking events to Lookout’s free public calendar, BOLO. Click here to add your event.

Business news worth reading

• Heroic Dose Records on the hunt for new original music in Santa Cruz (Lookout)
• Flying taxis are coming in 2024. You read that right. (Rolling Stone)
• Strawberry case study: What if farmers had to pay for water? (The New York Times)