March 18, 2024

		

Patrick Kulp


| Friday, November 22nd, 2013

The new Black Friday: Small businesses rely on Saturday promotion to boost sales

Small Business, Tri-County Economy

Small businesses throughout the Tri-Counties will offer their own promotional events and discounts as part of the most recent addition to the holiday shopping calendar, Small Business Saturday.

| Friday, November 15th, 2013

Study: Skilled workers priced out of San Luis Obispo

Central Coast, Real Estate, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy

The findings highlight a pervasive mismatch between the high price of even starter homes and the number of jobs that pay wages high enough to support those prices. Experts say the gap is a significant roadblock to the state’s economic growth.

| Friday, November 1st, 2013

Refinery rail project would ease crude oil supply concerns

Central Coast, Technology, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy

A Phillips 66 refinery on the Nipomo Mesa is hoping to supplement its dwindling inflow of California crude by extending a rail spur that will allow it to import oil from out of state.

The refinery — tucked away off of Highway 1 in South San Luis Obispo County — is a little-known yet critical part of the Golden State’s petroleum infrastructure. It processes the state’s heavy, sour crude into semi-refined products that flow through 200 miles of pipeline to Conoco’s 128,000-barrel-a-day facility in Rodeo in the Bay Area, where it is turned into gasoline.

| Friday, October 25th, 2013

Ratings agencies unfazed as county pension costs rise

Banking & Finance, Central Coast, East Ventura County, South Coast, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy, West Ventura County

Despite dire warnings that future pension costs could cause a fiscal meltdown for tri-county governments, credit ratings for Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo county bonds remain mostly unaffected by looming gaps in their retirement obligation funding.

Standard & Poor’s, a leading rating agency, ranks all three counties near the top of a scale that spans from its highest AAA to C, the lowest rating a bond can have without defaulting. Santa Barbara County carries the agency’s second highest AA-plus designation. Ventura County is assigned a slightly lower AA-rating this year and SLO County is ranked AA-minus.

| Friday, October 18th, 2013

First coffee, then the world: Teeccino breaks into breakfast market

Features, Small Business, Women Inc.

After spending the past 18 years growing the leading coffee alternative product in the country, Carpinteria-based Teeccino is expanding into the fast-growing health foods market.

| Friday, October 11th, 2013

Soda space race: Rocket Fizz goes national with franchising

Features, Small Business

Rocket Fizz founders Robert Powells and Ryan Morgan have built a nationwide soda-pop enterprise out of quirky novelty creations such as their best-selling bacon-flavored soda and glow-in-the-dark “Martian Poop” soda.

| Friday, October 4th, 2013

Manufacturers hunt for talent amid shortage

Central Coast, East Ventura County, South Coast, Technology, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy, West Ventura County

Many of the region’s largest manufacturers say they face a shortage of skilled factory workers. That’s despite high unemployment rates and a steady decline in tri-county manufacturing jobs in recent years. Industry experts say the shortage stems from a number of factors, including a dearth of young people interested in manufacturing careers. Few students are Read More →