Paso Robles: growing between the vines
FeaturesPaso Robles touts itself as the wine capital of the Central Coast, and area wineries have done everything they can to uphold that image in the past year, adding thousands of square feet in expansions and remodels. In fact, construction at the wineries surrounding Paso Robles may soon outpace growth in the city itself. A Read More →
Watkins: state recession not over until end of 2010
UncategorizedThe U.S. economy will experiences slow growth throughout most of 2010 but California won’t emerge from recession until the very end of the year. That’s the view of California Lutheran University economist Bill Watkins, who presented his first state and national forecast for 2010 at a breakfast event on campus on Dec. 16. The Business Read More →
Santa Barbara sees shifts, new business on the real estate front
ColumnsThere have been a few notable shifts in the Santa Barbara commercial real estate landscape over the past few weeks. First up, we have a new venture from real estate executive Jim Slaught. His new company, Slaught Real Estate Group, focuses on commercial real estate development, investment, management and brokerage projects. Slaught, a former vice Read More →
Gear up for the launch of our 10th year
ColumnsI’m very proud to announce that 2010 will mark the 10th anniversary year for the Pacific Coast Business Times. Since March 17, 2000, we’ve been chronicling the fortunes of business and the overall economy in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Along the way we’ve covered major stories about innovation and financial meltdowns Read More →
Bankruptcy flood may be just starting
UncategorizedThe flood of bankruptcies pouring from the tri-county region may well pass the high-water mark by year’s end. The Santa Barbara district of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court — the office that encompasses the tri-county region — saw 4,134 bankruptcy filings from the beginning of 2009 just through September, the last month through which statistics have Read More →
A high-tech patent war
UncategorizedIn what could become a contest of war chests, Westlake Village-based chipmaker Inphi has fired back in a patent battle with a struggling Orange County firm over products for one of the hottest parts of the semiconductor market. The dispute started on Sept. 23 when Irvine-based Netlist, a money-losing company whose stock had traded Read More →
Economy encourages women to look to entrepreneurship
Women Inc.Rosandra Heffefingers was a successful project leader at a Ventura insurance brokerage firm — until her job fell out from beneath her. “They just decided it was no longer a lucrative project, so my position wasn’t necessary,” she said. Facing dim prospects in a difficult job market, she decided to look into entrepreneurship as an Read More →
