One step back, one leap forward – Entrepreneur turned layoff into success
Getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to Barbara Rosenblum. It was the 1990s, and Rosenblum, a registered nurse, was running a home health care pharmacy, an in-home service for patients with chronic illnesses such as AIDS. After she lost her job, she went back to school and founded Santa Barbara-based Strategic Read More →
Construction hammered – Home building in Paso Robles at a standstill
With housing construction in Paso Robles in a free-fall, the city’s growing populace may soon have to look elsewhere for a place to call home. Residential building permits have come to a virtual standstill. And although the population is still growing at 1 percent annually, the days when Paso Robles dreamed of surpassing San Luis Read More →
Lawsuit seeks $250,000 in legal fees
A San Luis Obispo-based action sports media company faces a lawsuit from its lawyers alleging it failed to pay more than $250,000 of its $1 million legal bill for disputes with its founders and distributors. San Luis Obispo business law firm Sinsheimer Juhnke Lebens & McIvor is suing VAS Entertainment for $256,678.80 plus interest, according Read More →
A long fall from the top of the bubble
In the heyday of the housing boom, Bob Fowler and Ron Hertel cut a wide swath across the West Coast. By Fowler’s own account, their flagship company, R.W. Hertel & Sons, built some 1,100 homes in and around the tri-county region. They were active as far north as Oregon and as far south as Woodland Read More →
Anchor Blue, in Chapter 11, could close Santa Barbara store
Anchor Blue Retail Group, a 177-store casual wear retailer that filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 in May, may close one of its five tri-county locations as it attempts to restructure out of bankruptcy. The store at 820 State St. in Santa Barbara is on the tentative closure list. Brian Johnson of Radius Group Read More →
The real-life drama over a film
The curious case of the film “Bananas!” continues to play out on screen and in the courts. On screen, “Bananas!” is a film that claims to be a documentary about Westlake Village-based Dole Food Co. and the health problems that thousands of workers in Nicaragua suffered because of exposure to pesticides. The hero is attorney Read More →
A tasty honor
For as long as there’s been a Pacific Coast Business Times, we’ve been big fans of the Far Western Tavern and the Righetti family. Their entrepreneurial spirit has kept a family business alive in the small town of Guadalupe and spawned the world-renownedj12 Susie Q barbecue sauce. Now comes word that Sunset Magazine has named Read More →
