NAI report: Ventura County has seen the worst of CRE woes
Ventura County’s office market is still reeling from the Countrywide collapse, according to a recently released NAI report. Office vacancy in the county is still up, and the NAI market report puts the number around 20 percent and notes that net absorption was negative through the third quarter of 2009. “Office space is tough Read More →
Green Coast summit puts iZone on map
On Jan. 21, some 80 business, community and educational leaders met to kick off a project that has evolved from a column in this newspaper into something called the Green Coast Innovation Zone. It was a rare moment when the leadership of all three counties — Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo — were Read More →
Impact Radius scores $6M
A Santa Barbara firm has just garnered a $6 million investment to see if it can shake up the broadcast, radio and print advertising world the same way its leaders shook up the online advertising world. Impact Radius has rolled out a new online platform for advertisers and media firms to buy and sell performance-based Read More →
Taser gives Carp a jolt
Taser, maker of the handheld voltage delivery system of “don’t tase me, bro” fame, is setting up shop on the South Coast. Arizona-based Taser snapped up a former Microsoft executive and put him to work as head of the new virtual systems division in Carpinteria, where he and roughly 80 employees are working on a Read More →
Former CEOs debate future of the auto industry
Former Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Donald Petersen and auto quality guru Dave Power, founder and former CEO of J.D. Power and Associates, debated the future of the car business at California Lutheran University on Jan. 21. “The disease of, ‘how I am going to make my mark?’ is a devilish thing,” Petersen said. Read More →
Court wants Distenfield to pay legal bills
After a daylong trial Jan. 20, a bankruptcy court in Santa Barbara let stand an earlier ruling that Ira Distenfield aimed to deceive Los Angeles attorney Richard Lubetzky by concealing a stock sale and not paying $115,000 in legal fees related to the sale of We the People. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robin L. Riblet Read More →
County Commerce reports strong growth in 2009
On Jan. 20, Ventura-based County Commerce Bank released its year-end financial statement, which showed substantial growth in 2009. The bank’s net income was roughly $1 million for 2009, up from $901,000 in 2008. Capital increased 8.49 percent to $13.2 million in 2009 from $12.2 in 2008. During the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2009, assets Read More →
