Small businesses get into acquisition mode
UncategorizedThe most obvious effect of a recession is that some businesses go away. Weak business plans, poor management or just being in the wrong industry at the wrong time can force companies under. But a recession also offers strong businesses large and small an opportunity to expand and to grab market share and offer customers Read More →
Navy
OpinionWhen Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus came to Santa Barbara to speak before the regional chapter of the Navy League, not many people had heard of the “Green Fleet.” And, indeed, there is a fair amount of public relations value involved — just as Theodore Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet” which sailed the Pacific at Read More →
Warner credit watch
UncategorizedTy Warner, Montecito resident and luxury hotel magnate, may be in danger of defaulting on debt and faces a potential ratings agency downgrade on $425 million debt backed buy four resorts, including Four Seasons in New York, according to Bloomberg News. Standard & Poor’s placed Warner’s debt on “credit watch with negative implications” after net Read More →
Paso Robles shopping center debuts with opening of Lowe
ColumnsLowe’s is now open for business in San Luis Obispo County. The home improvement store had its grand opening Oct. 23 near Highway 46 in northeastern Paso Robles. The 169,112-square-foot Lowe’s is a strong anchor for the 287,900-square-foot Golden Hills Plaza, a $70 million shopping center that is also slated to include a Bed, Bath Read More →
Fed gives Main Street the brush-off
ColumnsPerhaps in some Hollywood version of reality, the Bacara resort in Goleta really could pass for The Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Bretton Woods, as it is commonly known, was the getaway spot where the framework for the modern financial system was created in the summer of 1944 as the U.S. and Read More →
Orfalea celebrates individual success
OpinionAt a time when business leadership seems sorely lacking across the region, the state and the nation, it’s great to see someone emerge from the pack with enthusiasm, optimism and a few great ideas. That person happens to be Kinko’s founder Paul Orfalea. Though long departed from the company he founded in Isla Vista and Read More →






