Pacific Capital hires troubled-loan czar
Santa Barbara-based Pacific Capital Bancorp, the struggling parent of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, has named Paul Alexander to oversee the team that addresses the company’s troubled assets, the source of many of the bank’s capital woes over the past year. Since last spring, Pacific Capital has been under a voluntary agreement with regulators to Read More →
Controversial Oxnard smelting plant is on the market again
The former Halaco smelting plant in Oxnard is on the market again. The 10.7-acre site at 6200 Perkins Road is being marketed by Ventura County’s Troop Commercial Brokerage, which is hoping a buyer converts the controversial property to a clean job site. The property served as a smelting plant for Halaco Engineering from August 1965 Read More →
Jobs agenda meets politics of obstruction
When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up in San Luis Obispo on Feb. 8 to make his pitch for a $500 million plan for job growth and green tax credits, he was preaching to his kind of business leaders. Central Coast Republicans and Democrats alike often find common ground with the governor’s mix of faith in Read More →
SLO finds a solution
The monthlong battle over San Luis Obispo’s Farmers’ Market has finally been settled, and the two warring parties have come to a joint decision: The Farmers’ Market Association will regain control of produce sales at the popular street fair. The Downtown Association, which seized control of produce sales in January, and the San Luis Obispo Read More →
Flower industry looks for love and money
Valentine’s Day kicks off the busiest time of the year for the Tri-Counties’ $175 million cut-flower industry, and growers say they could have their most profitable season in years. Reeling from a steep decline in sales last year and a Valentine’s Day that falls on a sales-dampening Sunday, growers have made their operations leaner but Read More →
Experts fear rules gridlock
As new stormwater rules take final form in Ventura County, legal experts are wondering whether the aims of the regulations are on a crash course with the goals of landmark smart-growth and carbon emissions laws passed in Sacramento in recent years. At its heart, the conflict centers on density. AB 32 and SB 375, laws Read More →
