Santa Barbara needs its Silicon Valley link
Word that the Santa Barbara airport is about to lose its daily service to San Jose is a troubling development that threatens the 101 Technology Corridor’s link to the Silicon Valley. But examples from San Luis Obispo show that a strong lobbying effort by business interests can keep service going. We think that a coalition Read More →
Hollywood
Perhaps it was the moment that Montecito resident Jeff Bridges stepped on stage to accept his well-deserved Oscar for Best Actor on March 7. Perhaps it was the evening that music industry maven Mark Hartley turned on the lights at the Watermark restaurant in downtown Ventura. Or the moment when property titan Triliad Developers and Read More →
A nod to an agricultural pioneer
If you have sliced open a ripe Hass avocado recently, you probably owe a debt of gratitude to Hank Brokaw. Brokaw, who passed away in Santa Paula Feb. 18 at age 82, was a pioneering grower. His attention to detail in cultivation and grafting led him to produce a disease-resistant variety of the Hass avocado Read More →
I.V. 2.0 sets example for redevelopment
Long lampooned for being nothing more than an appendage to the University of California, Santa Barbara, the community of Isla Vista is finally getting a major architectural makeover. For years, Isla Vista has been the butt of jokes about sofa burnings and the scene of not-so-funny Halloween mayhem. But powerful forces are reshaping the community Read More →
Airport gets much-needed grant
Also from San Luis Obispo County comes a sign that a concerted economic development effort can pay off. Just a few years ago, the SLO Airport was struggling with the loss of major carriers and a maintenance operation. But things seem to have stabilized thanks to a community wide effort to support existing flights and Read More →
How SLO can lead the renewable revolution
In the world of business, timing is everything. That’s because a certain amount of momentum develops around a sale or a deal and once it stops it may go away — forever. In the case of California, and particularly the Tri-Counties, there’s a lot of momentum right now built up behind the development of renewable Read More →
The scoop: Save this business, eat ice cream
The surest way to kill an economy is to kill its entrepreneurial spirit. In the brief, 10-year history of the Business Times, we’ve seen this attempted on a few occasions. The killers can wear suits — as in the case of the tort lawyer who went up and down the Central Coast filing Americans for Read More →
