Ventura real estate firm sets sights on the Lone Star State
ColumnsFor the first time in eight years, Dick Fausset’s Ventura real estate investment company is buying. Back in the 1990s, Fausset Neely Inc. went on an acquisition spree, buying up more than 2.86 million square feet of commercial property in California, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama. But in 2001, Fausset stopped buying and started selling. “In Read More →
Investors wait for answers
OpinionNow that Don Lukens has been arrested in Chicago, maybe Ventura and Santa Barbara county investors will learn what happened to their money. Millions of dollars are still missing from failed investment programs run by Lukens, who disappeared amid a flurry of law enforcement activity. Much of the reporting on the Lukens affair was reported Read More →
No restaurant blues at EP Koberl
FeaturesThe restaurant business is a notoriously tough one to succeed in, but Erich and Patricia Koberl must have had a secret recipe when they struck out on their own almost five years ago. EP Koberl at Blue, a stylish little restaurant nestled in the corner of the historic J.P. Andrews Building in downtown San Luis Read More →
Give small businesses a few tools
ColumnsIt’s bad enough that regulators have basically forced our community banks to redline small businesses and deprive them of capital at a time when it’s most needed. Now comes word that staff have been let go at Small Business Development Centers, which provide technical assistance to operating ventures in Ventura and Santa Barbara centers, which Read More →
In our thoughts
OpinionWe’ll take a few sentences to recognize Ugo Melchiori, founder of Melchiori Construction Co., and Roger Heroux, the retired head of the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. Just before press time, we learned that Melchiori, patriarch of a construction company that’s been highly successful on the South Coast, passed away after a long illness. Read More →