Company Profile
There are nurseries that will sell you plants, landscapers who will design and install your garden space and yard maintenance services that will come once a week to mow and blow, but whom do you contact to learn how to do it yourself—to design the yard you want or to keep your yard looking its best throughout the seasons? Professionals only want to do the work for you, and garden books may be too generic for your plants and microclimate. This unmet educational niche in the world of horticulture professionals is the one that The Gardening Tutor fills.

Christy Paul, a young school teacher, saw a need in Santa Cruz for a quality educational toys and games store for children under 10.   She wanted both a store for educators and parents, and also for children to play interactively with the products and create in workshops.  She contacted the Central Coast SBDC and became part of the Youth Entrepreneur Program (YEP) to plan her business and obtain financing with the help of Keith Holtaway, SBDC Certified Business Plan Advisor.  Though the economic climate was a challenge to open a retail business, Paul was hopeful the business would be well received.

The 6-acre Farmhouse Inn, Restaurant and Spa was purchased in 2001 by siblings Catherine and Joe Bartolomei, whose family has farmed in the Sonoma County area for five generations. The property came with an excellent reputation in the food world; in its May 2007 issue, Gourmet Magazine name it one of the “World’s 36 Best Food Destinations.” The Bartolomeis continue to improve and refine the property, receiving the “One Star Preferred Destination” from the Michelin San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country Guide” in 2007.

42TEK provides consulting for entrepreneurs, investors, and growing companies in electronic payments, data security, health care systems and clean technology.  Principal David Snyder uses his engineering and business management skills and experience to assist organizations to develop and introduce products and services and expand globally.