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Auto Modown co-owner and former pro skateboard Jason Jesse launches down the face of the quarter-pipe behind the Watsonville warehouse. Sentinel Photo by Dan Coyro

WATSONVILLE — Skateboarding in Watsonville was nearly nonexistent a decade ago. Within the last three years however, the sport has grown tremendously. A year after Watsonville received its first skatepark at Ramsay Park, now comes its first skateboard factory — Auto Mowdown.

Auto Mowdown, the name taken from the first song ever released by the band Devo in the early 1970s, is a Watsonville wherehouse converted into a skateboarding factory.

The co-owners of Auto Mowdown are former local pro skater Jason Jessee and current local guitarist Mike Neider. Long-time local skateboarding fans may remember Jessee’s 1987 old-school board designed by Santa Cruz Skateboards, which depicts a muscular Neptune figure. He was sponsored by Santa Cruz Skateboards between 1987-1991. Jessee, primarily a ramp skater, had his best result in 1988, when he finished third in the Munster World Cup halfpipe competition in Germany.

Neider is the lead guitarist for the popular local band BL’AST, which has been rocking local crowds since 1983.

Upon entrance into the factory, one can’t help but notice the relics of skateboarding’s past. Posters taken from Thrasher and Transworld magazines decorate the walls along with valuable and extremely rare ’80s skateboard decks. Behind the factory lies a six-foot quarterpipe with a foot of vertical face. The employees skate from the factory floor, down the loading dock cement and onto the ramp.

"That’s how we stretch before we work," said Neider of the quarterpipe.

Still a small business, Auto Mowdown is comprised of people who have been in and around the local skateboarding industry for at least 20 years. Their hope is that the bits of knowledge they have taken from the local skateboarding landscape will keep them in business for years to come. Santa Cruz, synonymous with skateboarding, has been witnessing an exodus of business entrepreneurs heading to less expensive climes such as Watsonville.

Auto Mowdown is the blanket name for four businesses run out of the same West Beach Street factory. One of the businesses, Auto-Matic, is a silk screening company. Another business, Hi-Bond Modified, specializes in Harley Davidson customizing. The other two businesses, The Driven and 100% Skateboarder, are skateboarding companies that produce hard goods, soft goods, decks, corduroy slippers, wheels, bearings and risers. The Driven is producing four pro model skateboard decks. Products are currently on local shelves.

Jessee admits that Hi-Bond is meant more for "balance" in life rather than a bustling motorcycle yard. Initially, he does not plan on building more than two bikes a year.

There may have been some divine help in creating Auto Mowdown. Both Jessee and Neider met outside of a Watsonville church one day and decided to start the company.

"We bumped into each other and we were both kind of wondering what we were going to do," said Neider. "I decided it was such a good chemistry that it would last to do this."

A pair of bonafide local skateboarding companies, 100% Skateboarder and The Driven, will be sponsoring skateboarders. Scoffone, 23, is the team manager. Jessee rides for his own company, along with a handful of other local talent.

"No fluffy bunnies," said Scoffone. "Nothing stupid involved here. It’s just going to be for skateboarding. We’re also really competitive for silk screening. We’re willing to match anyone’s price. I’m really into beating anyone’s price right now."

As with any upstart company, Auto Mowdown has mostly love to offer sponsored riders, instead of the standard fare like skateboards, T-shirts and stickers.

"Right now it’s just a whole lotta love," said Scoffone of what team riders are receiving. "We’re not really offering much right now because we don’t have anything. We’re still materializing."

The Auto Mowdown employees and the factory itself have the feel of a mellow, yet determined local company. Jessee and Neider’s vision is to restore some of the goofy fun lifestyle that used to be skateboarding’s image and not continue the gross overcommercialization of the sport.

"I realized, wait, I gotta be in skateboarding," said Jessee. "Skateboarding needs us ... because everything’s really dumb right now....I just want to create a good environment where you can get work done and no weird feeling like hostile weirdness. It’s gotta be like that or I don’t even want to do it."

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