Rusnak looks to service as mega-store opens
As the finishing touches are being put on its new BMW dealership in Thousand Oaks, Rusnak Auto Group is banking on a strong service department and more pre-owned vehicle business to weather the global downturn. The new Rusnak BMW Westlake is the largest BMW dealer in the country, according to Tom Valasek, director of marketing Read More →
Lehman Brothers decision will haunt Bush
Consider, if you will, the following sequence of events. On Sept. 15, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy after the Treasury Department decided it was not too big to fail. On Sept. 17, with more than $600 billion in Lehman’s assets now practically worthless, a money market fund called the Reserve Fund faced insolvency as it Read More →
Women rise to lead roles in a male-dominated wine industry
Trivia question: How many of the Tri-Counties’ 25 largest wineries are headed by women winemakers? Answer: Two. Of all wine consumed in the United States, 57 percent is purchased by women, according to Adams Wine Handbook; but a scan of wineries across the Tri-Counties revealed that few women actually hold dominant positions within those wineries. Read More →
Nipomo nonprofit buys 29 acres of
After about 10 years of planning, negotiating and fundraising, members of a Nipomo nonprofit group were finally able to close escrow on 29 acres of land they’ve had their eye on for almost half a century. The Dana Adobe Nipomo Amigos purchased the parcel for $1.2 million in an effort to preserve what Dana President Read More →
Hispanic business merits further study
Ventura County’s lead universities are taking a close look at developing a new business program to educate a new generation of Hispanic entrepreneurs. The outreach effort got off to a strong start on Jan. 13 when California Lutheran University’s School of Business Dean Chuck Maxey hosted a presentation by Santiago Ibarreche, head of the Center Read More →
Hollywood strikes
The Screen Actors Guild is proving once again why the dysfunctional state of organized labor is not particularly good for the Southern California economy. SAG can’t get its act together on a unified stance in negotiations on a new contract, threatening a repeat of last year’s disastrous 100-day writers’ strike. Mega-stars such as Tom Hanks Read More →
Gottschalks files for Ch. 11
Retailer Gottschalks filed to reorganize in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy Jan. 14, raising questions about the fate of its San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria locations. The department store chain has negotiated a $125 million debtor-in-possession financing from a group of lenders led by GE Capital, it said in a statement Jan. 14. The financing, Read More →
