Santa Barbara County is about to fill what some people have taken to calling the region’s doughnut hole when it comes to economic development efforts. Thanks to a $150,000 grant in the recently approved county budget, the Santa Barbara Region Chamber of Commerce will soon begin development of an Economic Vitality Team. What Chamber President Read More →
“You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” Whether or not The Eagles’ classic rock song, “Hotel California,” was written as an homage to the former Camarillo State Hospital, now the campus of CSU Channel Islands, one thing about it rings true. When it comes to the Ventura County pension Read More →
California’s sometimes inward-looking cities need to make economic and business development a key part of their plans. And they will probably have more success if they can think regionally about workforce and business issues. That was the message that Kish Rajan, director of the Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development, or GoBiz, brought to Read More →
It’s time to hit “pause” on the Santa Barbara Foundation’s Mission & State public-interest journalism project. That’s not just my view. At a packed community meeting with representation from a half-dozen media organizations in the area, Lois Mitchell, president of The Orfalea Foundation, a program funder, urged the foundation to suspend a controversial contract that Read More →
Zoe Taylor had literally packed her bags the night before in Paso Robles when I caught up with her on her way home to Ventura. She had just wrapped up her fifth assignment as an interim chamber of commerce CEO, including a stint in Santa Barbara, Huntington Beach, Manhattan Beach and Kingman, Arizona. Before that, Read More →