The Westly Prize is an annual award from the Westly Foundation for young social innovators in CA that gives out up to $145,000 total, including three $40,000 Grand Prizes, as unrestricted funding to early-stage founders tackling social challenges in areas like AI, education, health, environment, and youth development.

Investors and industry leaders get an exclusive look at Navy-born innovations ranging from artificial muscles to satellite-free data transfer.

Cabrillo College's fall semester opened with a burst of momentum, from new collaborative student support spaces to the leasing launch of Costa Vista, its groundbreaking student housing project with UC Santa Cruz.

A Santa Cruz mac-and-cheese startup just got acquired by a 149-year-old Italian pasta giant. The real story isn't the deal, it's what it says about legacy brands, category disruption, and why $88 million buys you something money can't build.

The High School Robotics Club is opening their doors! Students, mentors, and innovators are invited to explore hands-on robotics, meet local teams, discover opportunities, and learn how to get involved.

The winner of the Ocean Film Festival World Tour ticket giveaway has been announced!

To celebrate SUP Shack's team-building experiences, we're giving away a SUP rental for two people at the Santa Cruz Harbor. Enter through Santa Cruz Works for your chance to win and experience a little of the SUP Shack adventure for yourself.

Santa Cruz Works is proud to sponsor Startup World Cup Santa Cruz Regional, landing at The Catalyst on October 17, 2026. Startups will pitch for a shot at $1M. Full details drop on September 9 at the Santa Cruz Works New Tech.

Sanctuary Exploration Center seeks interns to bring marine science to Pajaro Valley classrooms.

Former SCW Accelerates graduate, Climatize, passes $20 million in clean energy investments.

A panel of women leaders in VC, entrepreneurship, healthcare, and finance will gather in Santa Cruz to talk innovation and opportunity.

Do you think you have the next big idea? NSF iCorps can help give you the tools to figure it out!

Students explored how ideas become world-class products, toured decades of bicycle innovation, experienced Specialized’s renowned “Win” Tunnel, and recorded a student-led podcast with Ben Capron, Leader of Brand Voice at Specialized.

Measure D, on Santa Cruz County's November ballot, would extend 1986's voter-approval requirement for onshore oil and gas facilities to cover seabed mining too — locking in local control before federal leasing opens central coast waters to drilling and mineral extraction as soon as next year.

CarbonBridge's direct-gas bioreactor now runs with automated self-diagnostics, earns an intern's stamp of approval, and heads toward NRTL certification at a customer site: proof that hardware, not just chemistry, is maturing fast.

Purcell is redesigning the bulk food aisle with a sanitary, low-waste dispenser built to replace leaky gravity bins and single-use packaging, and the Santa Cruz Works accelerator graduate will present the M1 live at SCWorks New Tech on September 9.

Ever wondered what a Joby aircraft sounds like? Their new simulator lets you compare the noise to an airplane or helicopter.

Where art meets engineering: the Santa Cruz studio behind The Sphere, Green Day, and Louvre Paris joins us for New Tech on Sept 9.

The Ocean Film Festival World Tour splashes down at the Rio Theatre on September 4th, kicking off a season of big screen adventure at the Rio that continues with Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival in October and Mountainfilm on Tour in November.

John Deere and Reservoir just struck a deal to help agtech startups test their tech with no strings attached.