New Hub for Science and Technology Companies and Professionals in Santa Cruz
Website will include company profiles, jobs, news, resources and events
SANTA CRUZ – Santa Cruz Works, a new hub for science and technology companies and 
professionals in Santa Cruz, is at www.santacruzworks.org. The initiative marks the coming together of private and public sector efforts to showcase the growing science and technology community in Santa Cruz County. The website and accompanying marketing campaign will consolidate many pioneering efforts to further develop the science and technology ecosystem in Santa Cruz, and provide a central resource for company profiles, jobs, news, resources and events. Santa Cruz Works is established as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization.
“The timing is right for this,” said Bob Cagle, CEO of productOps and President of Santa Cruz Works. “We have seen a tremendous amount of activity among start-ups in Santa Cruz and continued growth of existing science and technology companies here. There is also a large group of workers in all functional areas commuting over the hill daily. The mission of Santa Cruz Works is to make those professionals more aware of the growing opportunities right here at home. We hope this will create a win-win: local talent growing local companies and less commute traffic long-term.”
SantaCruzWorks.org provides company profiles and a special LinkedIn tie-in that allows visitors to find out who in their network is connected to a given company. “About fifteen companies have joined Santa Cruz Works at launch, and we’ll be adding more in the months ahead,” said Bud Colligan, Founder and CEO of South Swell Ventures and board member of Santa Cruz Works. “We will be incorporating content from all members of the Santa Cruz science and technology ecosystem. I’m particularly pleased that we have representation from such a broad array of private and public members.”
The initial members of Santa Cruz Works include Looker, Five3 Genomics, productOps, South 
Swell Ventures, UCSC, City of Santa Cruz, PredPol, PayStand, Narrative Technologies, NextSpace, Imprivata, FileOpen, Tuul, Seebright and Central Coast Angels. “We are a founding board member of Santa Cruz Works because we understand the importance of creating a showcase for the companies and opportunities for growing science and technology companies in Santa Cruz,” said Carolyn Hughes, VP of Talent and Culture at Looker. “We hope engineers, sales, marketing, finance and operations people will learn more about Looker from the Santa Cruz Works web site and see the local opportunities available. We also hope to share best practices among participating companies to enhance all of our abilities to grow successful companies in Santa Cruz.”
In addition to company members, both UCSC and the City of Santa Cruz joined as founding board members to make Santa Cruz Works a true public/private partnership. “The launch of Santa Cruz Works aligns with the city’s agenda to create a diversified economy with more high paying jobs,” said Bonnie Lipscomb, Director of Economic Development for the City of Santa Cruz. “We want the growing science and technology community to thrive here at home.”
Scott Brandt, the Vice Chancellor for Research at UCSC and Santa Cruz Works board member commented, “UCSC is dedicated to contributing university developed science and technology into the community at large, and Santa Cruz Works provides an excellent forum to stimulate this two-way process. We are excited about this public/private collaboration and know that it also increases the opportunities for our students to find local career opportunities.”
“We want to trumpet the attributes that make us unique: a great place to live, a vibrant creative environment and strong technical talent,” said Steve Benz, CEO of Five3Genomics, Santa Cruz Works board member and graduate of UCSC’s computational genomics program. “My team and I are lucky to have graduated from UCSC and create a company in Santa Cruz. We see the opportunity for this to happen more and more.”
Santa Cruz Works will be rolling out a web, social media, print, radio and billboard marketing campaign in the coming months to create awareness around its launch. “We’re excited about the possibility in the air and intend to capitalize on the growing interest, talent and capital in Santa Cruz,” said Cagle. “Perhaps many more people will decide they’ve had enough of the commute.”
Santa Cruz Works exists to help connect local tech talent to thriving, exciting companies in Santa Cruz County. Santa Cruz Works is a California 501(c)(6) nonprofit mutual benefit corporation, and a six-person board drawn from emerging tech companies, local government, academia and the investment community manages its objectives and direction. It is the comprehensive destination for science & technology industries in Santa Cruz County, driving awareness, employment and overall economic vitality.