Editorial: Small business is the real key to fixing state
OpinionA California Forward meeting for Ventura and Santa Barbara business leaders on June 16 provides a useful marker for how far California has come toward real reform — and how far it needs to go. Over the past several years, voters have overhauled the state’s method for drawing districts and, thanks in part to Lt. Read More →
Making cement green: Oxnard firm leads the way
UncategorizedJim Price, president of Oxnard’s Diversified Minerals, has entered a range of businesses with his 26-person company, but it all adds up to single-minded focus: greener cement. Diversified Minerals builds giant cement silos, runs a railroad spur and blends specialty cements for projects like dams and levies. But its main thrust is to remanufacture Read More →
Teledyne on another buying spree
FeaturesThousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies is back in acquisition mode. This month, the defense conglomerate made up of dozens of companies has bought two more: Optimum Optical Systems, a Camarillo firm that will complement Teledyne’s infrared imaging systems for unmammned aerial vehicles; and Intelek, a United Kingdom mini-conglomerate that makes electronic systems for satellite communications. Teledyne Read More →
Green jobs are no cure-all for the economy
ColumnsJust as President Barack Obama was delivering his Oval Office speech promoting a green jobs agenda as part of the next administration push, a report from California Lutheran University economist Bill Watkins was hitting the office printer. The message from Watkins was sobering. Green jobs are costly to produce, the opportunity is limited and, most Read More →
Banks adapt by changing their ways and revamping their looks
ColumnsThe financial crisis rocked the very foundations of the banking world — and going forward, it may change the way banks look from the ground up, too. Few people can better speak to that than Elisa Garcia, owner of Garcia Architects in Santa Barbara. She specializes in banking design; if you live in the Santa Read More →
Editorial: Santa Barbara, stand and be counted
OpinionThe city of Santa Barbara is the latest among the region’s cities to review and update its general plan. The next public meetings are on June 22 and June 23 at 630 Garden St. This is a chance to create a denser, more energy efficient and more prosperous city that better attends to the needs Read More →
