UCSB’s two solar powers
UncategorizedThe burning question in energy research is how to harness the power of the sun in a cost-effective way. Nobel laureate and UC Santa Barbara Professor Alan Heeger’s answer — plastic solar cells that can be printed cheaply like photographic film — has drawn interest and more than $100 million from investors. But other researchers Read More →
Dirt is flying again as building picks up in the Tri-Counties
ColumnsAfter a year or more of struggling to find work, contractors are ready to dig in their shovels and let the dirt fly as construction projects large and small break ground throughout the Tri-Counties. Several notable projects are in the construction pipeline, and builders I spoke with said they’re finally starting to see new business Read More →
First Solar buys Cuyama array site
UncategorizedThe first proposed commercial-scale solar energy project in Santa Barbara County has changed hands. The Cuyama Solar Array Project is now being shepherded by First Solar, the same company proposing the much larger 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm on San Luis Obispo County’s Carrizo Plain. The Cuyama project was originally proposed in September 2009 by Edison Read More →
Designed for success: Top minds at RKS Design share their secrets
UncategorizedOver the past 30 years, Thousand Oaks-based RKS Design has proved it knows how to design stuff. It’s won nearly every award in the industrial design world. It’s helped turn around troubled companies. A rethinking of the controls on Amana’s washing machines, for example, added about 30 cents in costs but helped swing the appliance Read More →
Melton
Small BusinessMark Melton has grown his cleaning business into a tidy little tri-county empire over the past decade, sweeping in $19.8 million in revenue last year. Carpinteria-based Melton Franchise Systems, a master franchisor for Coverall Health Based Cleaning Systems and owner of the Molly Maid business in the region, made the No. 19 spot on the Read More →
SLO divided over which road to take on Broad Street project
ColumnsSome members of the San Luis Obispo business community are hoping to drive Measure H — a ballot proposal to stop the planned extension of Prado Road to Broad Street — right into a dead-end. The City Council approved the road extension in a 3-2 vote, but Measure H now puts the decision in voters’ Read More →
