Green jobs are no cure-all for the economy
Just as President Barack Obama was delivering his Oval Office speech promoting a green jobs agenda as part of the next administration push, a report from California Lutheran University economist Bill Watkins was hitting the office printer. The message from Watkins was sobering. Green jobs are costly to produce, the opportunity is limited and, most Read More →
Banks adapt by changing their ways and revamping their looks
The financial crisis rocked the very foundations of the banking world — and going forward, it may change the way banks look from the ground up, too. Few people can better speak to that than Elisa Garcia, owner of Garcia Architects in Santa Barbara. She specializes in banking design; if you live in the Santa Read More →
Limoneira refinances its loans on planned Paso Robles project
Limoneira Co. has refinanced debt on Windfall Farms, its large San Luis Obispo County real estate development. The Santa Paula-based citrus and avocado grower increased its Windfall Farms debt held with Farm Credit West to $13 million, from $10.5 million outstanding, and extended the maturity date to May 1, 2013, according to filings with the U.S. Read More →
A mid-year update from the newsroom
In just a few weeks, June 30 will roll around on the calendar and the second half of the year will begin. That’s why I’m going to take a bit of a timeout this week and give you an update from the newsroom on developments for the rest of 2010. As you can tell from Read More →
Fielding Graduate University outgrows its mansion home
The decision to forge into the future or honor history can be a tough one, especially for a higher education institution. For Fielding Graduate University, it means the decision to stay in a historic Santa Barbara mansion — the university’s home for more than two decades — or to move to a larger, more modern Read More →
Has Amgen solved its conundrum?
For the past decade, the world’s biggest biotechnology company has faced what I have come to call the Amgen conundrum. The company’s revenue and profits keep rising, along with new ways of delivering its core drugs Epogen and Aranesp. But big one ingredient has been missing — a rising share price. After a spectacular rise Read More →
Ten years down the road, Palms center in Oxnard turning around
The very first issue of the Business Times 10 years ago took a hard look at the ailing Oxnard Factory Outlet along Highway 101. At the time, the shopping center looked like a ghost town. It was losing the fight against the newly opened Camarillo Premium Outlets and had struggled for years with declining profits, Read More →
