Walking Co. Reorganizes
On Feb. 2, Santa Barbara-based shoemaker The Walking Company Holdings filed a reorganization plan that would let the company keep 96 percent of its store locations open and pay off all of its debts and future obligations to trade creditors. The company said it is positioned to emerge from Chapter 11 protection sometime this spring. Read More →
Businesses honored at tech industry awards
The Santa Barbara Technology and Industry Association honored five business and political leaders at its annual awards dinner Feb. 4. Kelly Magne of Jensen Audio Visual was named Executive of the Year, and Alex Rasmussen of Neal Feay Co. was named Entrepreneur of the Year. High Tech Sector Company of the Year honors went to Read More →
Schniepp: Ventura County will see turnaround in 2010
Economist Mark Schniepp thinks the lowest point in the recession has passed and that 2010 will be a transition year for Ventura County. Schniepp, director of the California Economic Forecast in Goleta, predicted a recovery for the county during his presentation at the 2010 Ventura County Real Estate & Economic Outlook held in Westlake Village Read More →
Amid $20M loss, Pacific Capital in talks to sell branches
Pacific Capital Bancorp, the struggling parent of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, cut its losses to $20 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 and held its capital ratios steady though below where regulators want them to be. The bank said it has started talks over the potential sale of branches and that it will Read More →
Schwarzenegger has exit lesson for Obama
We are inclined to think about our leaders in historic terms. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and the Roosevelts are viewed as figures who tamed their legislatures and achieved great things. But as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger heads into the sunset, we are confronted with a new paradigm — a larger-than-life figure who is unable to overcome Read More →
Time for some new players
In baseball and in business, there are starting pitchers and there are relievers. We’ve all seen the superstar performer who is great in a crisis and then sticks around for a year or so. But his or her heart really isn’t in it for the grinding away that it takes to succeed for the long Read More →
Searching for survivors
The massive earthquake that rumbled through Haiti on Jan. 12 left the capital city of Port-au-Prince buried underneath piles and piles of debris, twisted metal, fallen trees and shattered concrete — and underneath that, countless human survivors clinging desperately to the last remnants of life. Often, the first sign of hope survivors hear in the Read More →
