Latest news View All →
Columbia Bank EVP describes plans for Central Coast region
It has been seven months since Pacific Premier Bank’s merger with Columbia Bank closed and in that time, the financial institution has set its sights on the impact it wants to have on the Central Coast. Closed on Sept. 2, the new Columbia Bank houses approximately $70 billion in assets with approximately $50 billion in Read More →
Read More →
Vital signs: California ranks high as hotspot for Gen Z
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Portfolio watch
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →Guest commentary: Why stronger brains will define the future of work
By Vlad Vaiman Artificial intelligence may be the most significant workforce transformation since the advent of electricity. But while earlier waves of automation replaced human muscle, today’s shift is fundamentally different. It is not about replacing people, but about reshaping how we think, decide and work alongside intelligent systems. A recent World Economic Forum report Read More →
Read More →Guest commentary: Why your environment, not your workload, is driving burnout
By John La Puma, M.D. We live in one of the most envied regions on Earth. From the tech corridors, beaches and foothills of Santa Barbara to the agricultural powerhouses and beautiful landscapes of San Luis Obispo, the Central Coast is defined by its terrain. Yet, despite our geography, local business leaders are facing the Read More →
Read More →
Beacon Photonics becomes newest member of UCSB’s Oasis R&D facility
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
805 Tech: Central Coast will continue being a big player in the space industry
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Dubroff: Civil Dialogues takes a deep dive into the housing crisis
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →Real Estate View All →

CRE: Santa Maria apartments open for move-ins
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
CRE: 19-unit apartment complex in Goleta nets $5.4M
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Majestic sells Tech Park porfolio for South Coast record $235M, according to public records
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
CRE: National CRE firm expands into Santa Barbara
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Santa Barbara hotel fetches $22.5M in sale
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
CRE: Santa Maria apartment complex nets $75M
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Santa Maria apartment complex sold for $75M
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Dubroff: Looking for models to address region’s housing crisis
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →Technology View All →

Beacon Photonics becomes newest member of UCSB’s Oasis R&D facility
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
805 Tech: Central Coast will continue being a big player in the space industry
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →Founders share secrets to launching successful companies
Santa Barbara is known for several things, but it’s not seen as a startup hub like its neighbors to the south, Los Angeles, or the north, San Francisco. But Dan Engel, the founder of FastSpring, a software e-service platform, sees Santa Barbara’s quietness as a positive, not a negative. When he founded FastSpring in 2005, Read More →
Read More →
UCSB patents power region’s tech sector
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →Top women 2026: Michelle O’Malley
She’s engineering nexgen biology By L. Wayne Hicks Special to the Business Times When Michelle O’Malley’s older brother went off to college to study chemical engineering, she was at a loss. She wasn’t quite certain what that was, but she became a quick study. Her initial understanding was that it involved “making oil and chemicals Read More →
Read More →Top women 2026: All-star honoree Kathy Odell
She’s got the prescription for success By Paula Aven Gladych Special to the Business Times Kathy Odell has reinvented herself many times over the years, since she helped found Medical Concepts Inc. in Santa Barbara in 1985. Some might even call her a serial entrepreneur. “For me, my career has sort of been a dream Read More →
Read More →Top women 2026: Keynote speaker & special honoree Megan Tremer
Space imaging is her universe As a kid, Megan Tremer was used to moving around. Her father, a metallurgist, relocated his family from her hometown of Pittsburgh to Oklahoma and France. And though it was tough constantly being on the move, Tremer said it “made me very adaptable to change,” something that has suited her Read More →
Read More →Top women 2026: Marcy Campbell
She values revenue and relationships By Paula Aven Gladych Special to the Business Times Marcy Campbell, chief revenue officer at AppFolio, didn’t plan on having the career she has had for more than 30 years, but fell into it because of her curiosity and passion for technology. She earned bachelor’s degrees in history and communications Read More →
Read More →Health Care & Life Science View All →
Top women 2026: Arianna Castellanos
Central Coast native learned to think globally By L. Wayne Hicks Special to the Business Times Arianna Castellanos saw from a young age the importance of good vision. Her father had a glass contact lens shatter in his eye, putting him out of work for months while he recovered his sight. Her mother was born Read More →
Read More →
Turn Therapeutics secures $25M in financing
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Healthcare jobs juggernaut plows ahead
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Wyatt family makes historic $5M donation to SB Neighborhood Clinics
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Angitia Bio raises $130M in Series D round
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Cottage Health partners with San Marcos High on health careers academy
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Dignity Health announces new Central Coast market president
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →Atara receives FDA rejection, future uncertain
The bad news just keeps coming for Thousand Oaks-based Atara Biotherapeutics. Nearly a year after the biotechnology company laid off 50% of its workforce after one rejection from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Atara received another one on Jan. 12. In this notice, Atara, a company specializing in developing transformative therapies for patients with Read More →
Read More →Agribusiness View All →

Avocado pricing hurts Mission Produce sales, stock
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Hub International high on Central Coast ag sector
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Dubroff: Nine lessons from one of the Central Coast’s premier leaders
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Dubroff: Mission’s strategic move caps decades of innovation
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →
Mission’s $430M buy was best deal for Calavo
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →Mission Produce buying Calavo for $430M
Two publicly traded Ventura County agribusinesses will be combining operations after Oxnard-based Mission Produce announced it is purchasing Santa Paula-based Calavo Growers in a cash-and-stock transaction worth $430 million. Under the terms of the deal announced Jan. 14, Mission agreed to pay Calavo stockholders $27 per share, comprised of $14.85 in cash and 0.9790 shares Read More →
Read More →
Limoneira’s revenues down in 2025, Mission’s up
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
Read More →Mission Produce announces C-suite changes for 2026
Oxnard-based Mission Produce announced some succession planning in the works for 2026, as CEO and Co-Founder Steve Barnard announced he will transition to the executive chairman role in April 2026. Succeeding him in April will be current President and COO John Pawlowski. As executive chairman, Barnard will chair the board and provide strategic oversight, working closely Read More →
Read More →
