Latest
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, November 16th, 2009 / Opinion / Comments Off on Santa Barbara
Since the earliest days of the region as a Mecca for wealthy families, philanthropy has been part of the social scene. Some efforts, notably Direct Relief International, have grown from informal ideas into world-class social organizations. But lately, philanthropic efforts often seem to be single-cause focused, reflecting the special interests of donors. From the Santa Read More →
Latest
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, November 16th, 2009 / Opinion / Comments Off on Tea fire not forgotten a year later
A year ago, the Tea Fire devastated parts of Santa Barbara and Montecito, destroying more than 200 homes and ravaging the landscape. Twelve months later, homeowners are still regouping and many have not yet decided whether or not to rebuild. Fire remains a threat, one underscored by the Jesusita Fire, which struck the Santa Barbara Read More →
Latest
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, November 16th, 2009 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Moguls lose out on inns
It’s been a rough year for tri-county luxury hotels and the moguls who may or may not still love to own them. In Ventura County, real estate tycoon David Murdock racked up an estimated $78 million in losses operating the Four Seasons Westlake Village, a posh resort for executives. The losses were so steep Murdock Read More →
Latest
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, November 16th, 2009 / Top Stories / Comments Off on A hard Habit to break
Need a cure for the economic hangover? Try hamburgers. That remedy has been working for The Habit, a tri-county burger chain that’s been putting more and more locations on its plate in recent years and proving that the hamburger is healthy — at least in terms of sales. As the economy has slumped, fast food Read More →
Latest
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, November 16th, 2009 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Tri-county job losses top 30,000 mark
The tri-county region has lost more than 30,000 jobs in the past two years, with Ventura County suffering the worst declines and Paso Robles potentially leading the way in a slow recovery. With 22,100 fewer jobs on nonfarm payrolls between September 2007 and September 2009, Ventura County has been hit the hardest and may take Read More →
Latest
By Staff Report / Friday, November 13th, 2009 / Latest news / Comments Off on Paso Robles winery owner faces foreclosures
UPDATE [1:30pm, Nov. 20]: The auctioning off of San Luis Obispo businessman David Weyrich’s properties on York Mountain Road near Templeton and Los Ranchos Road near San Luis Obispo was postponed Friday morning — at the beneficiaries’ request — until Tuesday Nov. 24. Unless San Luis Obispo County businessman David Weyrich comes up with nearly Read More →
Latest
By Staff Report / Thursday, November 12th, 2009 / Latest news / Comments Off on Investors buy Bank of Santa Barbara from Michigan company
It’s official: Bank of Santa Barbara is now run from Santa Barbara and not Michigan. A group of local investors headed by Santa Barbara banking veteran Eloy Ortega announced that it bought the roughly $55-million-asset Bank of Santa Barbara from its Michigan-based parent firm in July. The deal with Capitol Bancorp Limited of Michigan closed Read More →
