Remembering Fess Parker, businessman
The first time I asked Fess Parker to keynote the Business Times’ Spirit of Small Business Awards, his office had a polite reply: “Thanks, but no thanks.” A year later, I tried again. I called his office around noontime and got no farther than an assistant who said she was going to lunch. “Try back Read More →
Eyeing new concepts
Health care reform may be the hottest topic in the United States, but one Goleta medical equipment firm is focusing its attention on developing low-cost medical imaging technology for overseas markets. Pointe Conception Medical is launching what it says is the first integrated and networked endoscopic camera system in the world. The new medical video Read More →
Brave new broadband
In the past few weeks, private-sector and public-sector visions have unfolded for the United States’ 21st-century information infrastructure. The business version has drawn rallies with hundreds of enthusiastic supporters in the Tri-Counties while the broader government plan has generated reserved optimism. Google announced in February that it will install for fiber a city of 50,000 Read More →
Former MySQL exec to spearhead Eucalyptus
As a chief executive, Marten Mickos took MySQL, the open-source database firm whose technology powers Facebook and other Web sites, from a startup to its $1 billion sale to Sun Microsystems in 2008. On March 19, Mickos became CEO of Santa Barbara-based Eucalyptus Systems, an open-source software firm whose code forms private cloud computing networks and Read More →
A green future
The green economy holds great promise for the tri-county region. With thousands of jobs at stake, some interesting new players are emerging on the economic development scene. Sen. Tony Strickland, the Republican who won the narrowest of victories in a contested district, scored points when he backed a bill to exempt green manufacturing equipment from Read More →
Can the government make health care work?
With speed that seemed amazing for a Congress that never seems in a hurry to do anything, nearly $1 trillion in new spending on health care has become the law of the land. While most pundits are focused on the upcoming political season and what it might mean for the Democrats and control of Congress, Read More →
