ARTICLE
Monday, on a cool and overcast afternoon, the Santa Cruz County Chamber held a Ribbon Cutting for the ages. The Ribbon Cutting celebration was hosted at Joby Aviation’s headquarters in the Harvey West Business Park. Despite the June gloom weather a very large crowd (estimated at 150 to 200) of community, business and non-profit leaders gathered in the parking lot of the former Plantronics building. It was a hand-off of the building from the 1960s Plantronics facility where the first communication headset was created to a 21st Century aviation company. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on Apollo 11 communicated to the world as they circled the Moon on July 20, 1969. The next day Armstrong and Aldrin became the first people to walk on the lunar surface while Collins remained in lunar orbit on the Apollo Command Module Columbia. When Armstrong first stepped on the lunar surface he said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The live broadcast was heard by an estimated 530 million viewers worldwide. I remember where I was that day, watching from our family room on a little black and white TV. We were glued to the little T.V. screen watching Americans 238,900 miles away walk on the moon. History was made that day and Plantronics’ trajectory as a Santa Cruz innovative tech company launched into a global presence. If you are familiar with Santa Cruz County’s tech hub, you know that after 60 plus years, Plantronics (AKA Poly) was acquired by Hewlett Packard (HP), and the company is no longer a part of the tech fabric in our beach community. Stepping forward to fill that void is Joby Aviation — founded by JoeBen Bevirt who was raised in the Santa Cruz redwoods up on Last Chance Road. Wallace Blaine from Lookout Santa Cruz was one of many local media outlets covering the Ribbon Cutting. You can read his storyline here: Lookout Santa Cruz Wallace Blaine - Joby One particular comment in the story was from Mayor Fred Keeley who recited JoeBen’s career with poetic comments; “At the ribbon cutting Monday, Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley mentioned Bevirt’s deep roots in Santa Cruz culture, evoking the name of JoeBen’s father, Ron Bevirt. The elder Bevirt was not only a prominent local figure in the notorious 1960s counterculture troublemakers known as the Merry Pranksters — in those days, he was known as “Hassler” — he was also a co-founder of the first counterculture business in Santa Cruz, Hip Pocket Books, which predated even UC Santa Cruz.” KSBW’s Brisa Colon also covered the ribbon cutting and you can see her report here: https://www.ksbw.com/article/joby-aviation-unveils-new-headquarters-in-santa-cruz/44108217. Oh, what a wonderful expression of how Santa Cruz has jumped from the innovation of the 1960s to today's new generation of tech companies. Joby Aviation is developing a sustainable electric aircraft built to move the everyday commute into the air, comparing it more so to an SUV rather than a plane. JoeBen stated, “It’s really an exciting age of aviation. A new age of transportation. People are comparing this to the dawn of the automobile in a profound impact that the automobile had on our daily lives.” As JoeBen came to the podium before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he was profoundly articulate in describing his youth, his passion for Santa Cruz and his love to make Santa Cruz home for Joby Aviation’s headquarters. “To be able to put down roots and buy this iconic building here in my hometown where I was born and raised. I'm just so grateful for everything the community has done to nurture and support Joby Aviation within the last 15 years,” concluded Bevirt. On behalf of the Santa Cruz County Chamber, it is my pleasure to give a loud Joby Aviation “hoot-hoot" to JoeBen and his executive team, Eric Allison, Juliane Farrand, Gregor Veble Mikic and Rob Thodal for joining Mayor Fred Keeley to cut the ribbon and officially welcoming Joby Aviation to Santa Cruz. I also want to thank the Joby team — Maggie Hayes, Rachel Crovello, Dan Caughlin, and George Kivork who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make Monday night’s Ribbon Cutting a top-shelf event. Congratulations to Joby Aviation and now let’s make history.
Monday, on a cool and overcast afternoon, the Santa Cruz County Chamber held a Ribbon Cutting for the ages. The Ribbon Cutting celebration was hosted at Joby Aviation’s headquarters in the Harvey West Business Park. Despite the June gloom weather a very large crowd (estimated at 150 to 200) of community, business and non-profit leaders gathered in the parking lot of the former Plantronics building. It was a hand-off of the building from the 1960s Plantronics facility where the first communication headset was created to a 21st Century aviation company.
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on Apollo 11 communicated to the world as they circled the Moon on July 20, 1969. The next day Armstrong and Aldrin became the first people to walk on the lunar surface while Collins remained in lunar orbit on the Apollo Command Module Columbia. When Armstrong first stepped on the lunar surface he said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The live broadcast was heard by an estimated 530 million viewers worldwide. I remember where I was that day, watching from our family room on a little black and white TV. We were glued to the little T.V. screen watching Americans 238,900 miles away walk on the moon. History was made that day and Plantronics’ trajectory as a Santa Cruz innovative tech company launched into a global presence. If you are familiar with Santa Cruz County’s tech hub, you know that after 60 plus years, Plantronics (AKA Poly) was acquired by Hewlett Packard (HP), and the company is no longer a part of the tech fabric in our beach community.
Stepping forward to fill that void is Joby Aviation — founded by JoeBen Bevirt who was raised in the Santa Cruz redwoods up on Last Chance Road. Wallace Blaine from Lookout Santa Cruz was one of many local media outlets covering the Ribbon Cutting. You can read his storyline here: Lookout Santa Cruz Wallace Blaine - Joby
One particular comment in the story was from Mayor Fred Keeley who recited JoeBen’s career with poetic comments; “At the ribbon cutting Monday, Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley mentioned Bevirt’s deep roots in Santa Cruz culture, evoking the name of JoeBen’s father, Ron Bevirt. The elder Bevirt was not only a prominent local figure in the notorious 1960s counterculture troublemakers known as the Merry Pranksters — in those days, he was known as “Hassler” — he was also a co-founder of the first counterculture business in Santa Cruz, Hip Pocket Books, which predated even UC Santa Cruz.”
KSBW’s Brisa Colon also covered the ribbon cutting and you can see her report here: https://www.ksbw.com/article/joby-aviation-unveils-new-headquarters-in-santa-cruz/44108217. Oh, what a wonderful expression of how Santa Cruz has jumped from the innovation of the 1960s to today's new generation of tech companies. Joby Aviation is developing a sustainable electric aircraft built to move the everyday commute into the air, comparing it more so to an SUV rather than a plane. JoeBen stated, “It’s really an exciting age of aviation. A new age of transportation. People are comparing this to the dawn of the automobile in a profound impact that the automobile had on our daily lives.”
As JoeBen came to the podium before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he was profoundly articulate in describing his youth, his passion for Santa Cruz and his love to make Santa Cruz home for Joby Aviation’s headquarters. “To be able to put down roots and buy this iconic building here in my hometown where I was born and raised. I'm just so grateful for everything the community has done to nurture and support Joby Aviation within the last 15 years,” concluded Bevirt.
On behalf of the Santa Cruz County Chamber, it is my pleasure to give a loud Joby Aviation “hoot-hoot" to JoeBen and his executive team, Eric Allison, Juliane Farrand, Gregor Veble Mikic and Rob Thodal for joining Mayor Fred Keeley to cut the ribbon and officially welcoming Joby Aviation to Santa Cruz. I also want to thank the Joby team — Maggie Hayes, Rachel Crovello, Dan Caughlin, and George Kivork who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make Monday night’s Ribbon Cutting a top-shelf event. Congratulations to Joby Aviation and now let’s make history.