River Oaks Center hopes to lead the way on sustainable certification
Paso Robles-based Estrella Associates, the developer that brought you the River Oaks Golf Course and the River Oaks Hot Springs Spa, received a gold LEED rating on its new office and retail center in Paso Robles. Or it will, anyway. Before breaking ground in March 2008, Estrella jumped through the hoops of precertifying its Read More →
Why SLO may lead the recovery
The Tri-Counties version of The Great Recession began in San Luis Obispo County late in 2006 when house prices started to falter. After three grueling years, what likely will amount to the worst of times for those of us too young to remember the 1930s, likely will end just about now as SLO County sheds Read More →
Cashing in on a retail trend
If you own a small retail business in a tough economy, every dollar counts. That’s why many small businesses have found that automated teller machines, or ATMs, are quick and easy money-makers. By installing one of the cash-dispensing machines, merchants reap not only the benefits of a small commission every time someone uses it, but Read More →
Deals bolster balance sheets at two area banks
One bank went local, and one bank got smaller but sturdier. Two deals recently closed that change the tri-county banking landscape. As of Nov. 11, the Bank of Santa Barbara will answer to group of Santa Barbara investors rather than a Michigan-based parent firm. As of Nov. 6, the parent of Solvang-based Los Padres Bank, Read More →
Diani builds on legacy
In 1949, a World War II vet named A.J. Diani started a small grading and paving business in his hometown of Santa Maria. The son of Swiss immigrants, he put an emphasis on family relations and customer satisfaction, added some elbow grease and watched his company grow. Sixty years later, A.J. Diani Construction is a Read More →
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 →
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 →
