Our Story

Santa Cruz Works & Santa Cruz New Tech join forces

Santa Cruz New Tech

Santa Cruz New Tech was founded in 2007 by Doug Erickson. Why? He was lonely. He knew hundreds of tech professionals in the Silicon Valley, but very few in his home town Santa Cruz. His first “meetup” had only 20 attendees, of whom were mostly friends he lured to the event with free pizza. Today with over 150 events, this organization has grown to 5,000+ members who attend to learn new skills and technologies for their careers, job productivity, for networking, and yes, for the free pizza.

Santa Cruz Works

Santa Cruz Works was founded in 2012 as an umbrella organization for the entire local entrepreneurial ecosystem. The mission: to make Santa Cruz County a great place to start, sustain, and grow businesses—not exclusive to technology. A healthy ecosystem is composed of educational institutions where business and new technologies are taught, assistance from local government like Santa Cruz Economic Development, co-working & accelerators where entrepreneurs can develop their ideas and skills, event organizations like “meetups,” successful businesses where there are jobs and mentors, and venture capital to seed new businesses.

The Marriage, the Mission

In April 2019, Santa Cruz New Tech and Santa Cruz Works came together as Santa Cruz Works. Santa Cruz Works is a California 501(c)(6) nonprofit mutual benefit corporation whose mission continues to be an umbrella organization for the community. Our objectives and direction are managed by a board drawn from emerging and established tech companies, local government, academia and the investment community. We gather leaders of the local tech community to strengthen relationships, share best practices, and create inspiration. More broadly, we build bridges among companies, educational institutions, investors, and the community at large. And we still love our pizza.