Westmont neglected as donor defaults on $75M
OpinionBy any account, $75 million is a lot of money. If you are a small, Christian college laboring with recovery from a major fire and an ambitious expansion plan, it’s an enormous amount of money. Which is why the report in this issue of the Business Times that Westmont College’s mystery donor won’t be able Read More →
Green Coast summit puts iZone on map
ColumnsOn Jan. 21, some 80 business, community and educational leaders met to kick off a project that has evolved from a column in this newspaper into something called the Green Coast Innovation Zone. It was a rare moment when the leadership of all three counties — Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo — were Read More →
Region shows compassion for Haiti
OpinionWhen tragedy strikes, our region steps up. That’s one of the truly remarkable things about living and working in the tri-county region. The Business Times takes some space on these pages to pay tribute to all the innovative ways our businesses and nonprofits have found to raise money for earthquake relief for Haiti. Rather than Read More →
SB County pushes for green energy district
UncategorizedSanta Barbara County is taking the first steps toward developing a new kind of special district that would allow property owners to finance insulation, solar and other energy efficiency projects that would be paid for on their property tax bills. After a feasibility study was completed in November and submitted to the Board of Supervisors, Read More →
Rocking the game world
UncategorizedWarren Dennis isn’t the first person you’d expect to invent a new way to control today’s most popular video games. A onetime race-car mechanic who made his name in the ceiling fan business in the ’70s and ’80s, Dennis calls himself “too old to be a gamer.” But he’s an inventor at heart, and his Read More →
Deckers Outdoor is on the hunt for a new home in SB County
ColumnsDeckers Outdoor Corp., the maker of the Ugg boot, is looking for a new stomping ground. The shoemaker wants to move its Goleta headquarters to a new location in the greater Santa Barbara area sometime in 2012. The company’s third-quarter report showed substantial growth, and Deckers Executive Assistant Michelle Apodaca told the Business Times that Read More →
Pizzeria goes online to save itself
Small BusinessLou Torres isn’t on Facebook, but as of Jan. 13 he had 6,116 supporters of his failing restaurant on the social networking site. Torres owns Deano’s Pizzarama in Santa Barbara, a 50-year-old landmark heading for closure in the face of an ugly economy and tough competition. He owes his landlord two months in back rent Read More →
