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By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, September 7th, 2009 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Pacificor revamps strategy
Twenty months after financier Michael Klein died in a high-profile plane crash, his Santa Barbara-based hedge fund, Pacificor, is still working through the deals it struck before a private Cesna 172 he chartered flew into a mountain in Panama. Pacificor is still trying to repair its investment in troubled automobile parts maker Dura Automotive Systems, Read More →
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By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, September 7th, 2009 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Getting science right
A group pulling world-class researchers together in Goleta wants to take the spin out of science in the public debate. Novim brings small bands of researchers to the University of California, Santa Barbara, to tackle global questions. The idea is to get 10 of the world’s smartest experts in a room for a week, cut Read More →
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By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, September 7th, 2009 / Columns / Comments Off on Shaking up Montecito
For the past few years, hedge fund managers were quietly filling in the gaps of their classic car collections, while the headlines oozing from around Montecito’s stone walls were largely celebrity dustups. Revelation of actor Rob Lowe’s already public address sparked major upheaval at the Santa Barbara News-Press. Julia Louis-Dreyfus took her best shots at Read More →
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By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, September 7th, 2009 / Columns / Comments Off on September conferences forecast Ventura Co. real estate market
You won’t have to wait long to get the scoop on Ventura County’s housing market. September’s conferences will fill in all the gaps. • First up is the 2009 Ventura County Economic Outlook Conference, slated for Sept. 10 at the Westlake Hyatt. Economist Mark Schniepp will have a forecast for not only the housing market Read More →
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By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, September 7th, 2009 / Uncategorized / Comments Off on Westlake company snags $8M in capital
Zumbox has raised an $8 million round of capital for its quest to make mail paperless nationwide. The company, which has 28 employees at its Westlake Village headquarters, wants to draw consumers in with a digital mailbox offering that’s more secure and less spammed than e-mail and, most importantly, tethered to a street address. The Read More →
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By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Monday, September 7th, 2009 / Uncategorized / Comments Off on Bringing business to the race
Meg Whitman believes small businesses, such as the millions that sell their products on eBay, are the key to California’s economic revival. The Republican gubernatorial candidate, billionaire and former eBay chief executive officer spoke to an intimate crowd of supporters at a breakfast gathering at the University Club in Santa Barbara on Sept. 1. “It Read More →
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By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Friday, September 4th, 2009 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Calavo reports record-breaking third-quarter revenue
Santa Paula-based avocado distributor Calavo Growers said Sept. 3 that double-digit growth in fresh avocado sales fueled a 77 percent rise in profits to $2.5 million in the third quarter. Since the beginning of the year, Calavo’s profit has soared three-fold compared to 2008, from $3.7 million to $11.3 million. The third quarter earnings came Read More →