As we celebrate the holidays, I am very thankful for our community, Scotts Valley City Staff and our various commissioners and fellow city council members. I look forward to continuing the good work that has been accomplished through the pandemic, including 2022.
It’s been exciting to attend a variety of events at the new Scotts Valley Performing Arts Center/Theater the past couple of months. I was honored to present the Mayor’s State of the City Address with leaders from Scotts Valley Water District, School District, Fire Department, Police Department and City Manager Mali LaGoe. The State of the City Address was sponsored by Scotts Valley Senior Living Association. It was great to share the many accomplishments of the past year including returning staffing to levels that hadn’t been seen since prior to the depression of 2008. It was also good to share a strong balanced budget with a healthy reserve while being able to address several important projects for the city.
The Performing Art Center hosted the Santa Cruz Film Festival during its opening week in October. They’ve already booked several performances for the holidays and into the next year. Scotts Valley High School Drama Club is also looking forward to presenting its plays in the professional theater.
Faultline Brewing Company Scotts Valley opened last month to much enthusiasm from the community. Faultline was the last business in the Hangar Center to open, joining Zinnia’s Home Store, Penny Ice Cream and MADabolic Fitness Center. The Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting drew a large crowd ready to welcome both new businesses in addition to the adjacent new Target Store and newly remodeled Togo’s. The city looks forward to the synergy of these new businesses with the Scotts Valley Performing Arts Center.
This past month, Ambient Photonics celebrated the groundbreaking of its state-of-the-art, 43,000-square-foot, low-light solar cell manufacturing facility in Scotts Valley. This manufacturing facility is one of the largest low-light indoor energy harvesting technology factories in the world. The company’s recent $48.5 million Series A funding accelerated the factory construction timeline to position Ambient to serve the high demand for its novel technology. Ambient’s high power density solar cells enable connected device manufacturers to reduce the carbon footprint of their products by 80% by eliminating disposal batteries. These solar PV cells will replace the AA, AAA and 9 Volt batteries we all use in our homes and often end up in the landfill.
Ambient had recently opened its new headquarter in Scotts Valley. They project to employ over 125 full-time positions between the locations before the end of next year. Ambient CEO Bates Marshall said that “the Scotts Valley factory groundbreaking is a major milestone as we prove that both the U.S. and California can be leaders in the manufacturing of decarbonization technologies for the world.”
Ambient brings quality jobs to Santa Cruz County with an appealing work-life balance—avoiding stressful traffic jams and unnecessary air pollution that comes with a Silicon Valley commute. Living sustainability is fundamental to the health and well-being of our community. Ambient’s work to reduce waste and carbon emissions in our everyday devices is something we can all be proud of. They are worldwide leaders in this technology and have chosen Scotts Valley as their home.
Another exciting addition to the City of Scotts Valley is Poly/HP. Poly acquired Plantronics earlier this year and on Aug. 29, HP Inc. announced the completion of its acquisition of Poly, a leading global provider of workplace collaboration solutions.
This deal is expected to accelerate HP’s strategy to create a more growth-oriented portfolio, strengthen its industry opportunity in hybrid work solutions, and position the combined organization for long-term sustainable growth and value creation.
“This is a historic for our business as we mark the union of two iconic companies that are innovating at the heart of hybrid work,” said Enrique Lores, president and CEO of HP. “Poly brings incredibly strong talent, differentiated technology, and a complementary go-to-market system that we believe will further strengthen our position in large and growing markets. Together, we will have vast opportunities to innovate for customers and grow our business as we continue building a stronger HP.”
Poly/HP has been working with City Officials on their plans to locate in Scotts Valley. Locating near Ambient Photonics and 1440 Multiversity with Salesforce seems to bring opportunities and synergy.
As we approach the new year, I’m excited to see a variety of exciting opportunities for our community. I’m also thankful for the City’s work in partnership with the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce, and local businesses in the Economic Recovery Task Force. This work and the Community support helped Scotts Valley survive the pandemic and was critical to economic recovery. Thankful and looking forward to a bright future for Scotts Valley.
Donna Lind is Scotts Valley Mayor. To reach Lind, email dl********@ea*******.net or call 831-438-4187.
