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Lookout Santa Cruz
2024 Breaking News Pulitzer Prize winner
In her weekly look at Santa Cruz County business, Jessica M. Pasko reports on the demise of Ambient Photonics, notes a generational shift at a local coffee roaster and delivers names, numbers and events to know.
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 news@lookoutlocal.com with “Business News” in the subject line.
Just a couple of years after opening a 43,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in a tucked-away business complex in Scotts Valley, solar cell technology company Ambient Photonics has closed its doors.
The company, founded in 2019, sought to reduce consumer dependency on single-use, disposable batteries by providing a replacement in the form of small solar cells. Ambient’s proprietary solar cells were built to harvest and store energy under low-light conditions. That made them well-suited for small appliances such as computer mice and keyboards. Ambient’s products quickly earned the attention of major players like Google and Lenovo. Lenovo even incorporated the company’s solar cells into a Bluetooth computer keyboard it rolled out last year.
But tariffs hit the company hard as it was ramping up production of the solar cells, and investors couldn’t make up the difference in increased costs. Now the company’s equipment and materials are being auctioned off this week, and its founders have moved on to new roles. Read more here.
Four decades after founding Davenport-based roastery Alta Organic Coffee, Patti Spooner is handing the baton to her granddaughter and “honorary granddaughter.”
Lilly and Melia Spooner are taking over the company with a commitment to the company’s organic certification, small-batch, old-school roasting style, and a few new ideas to boot.
Lily Belli spoke to the Spooner trio to learn more about the transition and how the younger Spooners plan to modernize the business while remaining true to its roots. Read that piece here.
Got hires, promotions or departures to report? Send them to news@lookoutlocal.comwith the subject line “Career changes.”
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Jessica M. Pasko has been writing professionally for almost two decades. She cut her teeth in journalism as a reporter for the Associated Press in her native Albany, New York, where she covered everything… More by Jessica M. Pasko
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