Region gets new SBA leadership as Parker heads to D.C.
Victor Parker, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Los Angeles District Office, is taking a new post at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The LA District, which includes Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, is the largest in the nation in terms of dollar volume of SBA loans. During nine years as district director, Read More →
Wildfires hit tourism industry still reeling from pandemic
This is supposed to the time of year for clear skies in Morro Bay. The fog, when it comes in at all, usually lifts by noon, says Mary Robinson the owner of Paddlesports Morro Bay. But lately the San Luis Obispo County coast has been blanketed by a mix of fog, smoke and ash. Robinson’s Read More →
UCSB, Cal Poly, CLU all make top 10 in U.S. News rankings
UC Santa Barbara placed No. 30 on U.S. News & World Report’s latest ranking of national universities and sixth among public universities, one of three Central Coast colleges in the top 10 in its category. U.S. News released its annual “Best Colleges” lists for 2021 on Sept. 14, with the six colleges in the Tri-Counties Read More →
SLO County airport chief to depart for SFO
Kevin Bumen, San Luis Obispo County’s director of airports, is stepping down at the beginning of October. Bumen, who has managed San Luis Obispo County’s two airports since 2013, is taking a new position as the first chief commercial officer for San Francisco International Airport. His last day in San Luis Obispo is Oct. 9, Read More →
Carbajal expects more stimulus funds
An agreement on a new round of stimulus funding, including payment to individuals and additional funding for small business, is likely to be reached in mid-September, says U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara. In a Sept. 2 phone interview with the Business Times, Carbajal said he expects the White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Read More →
Vista Equity founder Robert Smith under tax investigation
Robert Smith, the founder of Vista Equity Partners, which counts Mindbody and LogicMonitor in its portfolio, is facing an investigation by U.S. tax authorities over his personal offshore holdings. According to reports first published in Bloomberg, then in the Financial Times and others, Smith has come under scrutiny over tax treatment of millions of dollars Read More →
Unemployment rate drops in Tri-Counties, still in double digits
Unemployment rates in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties continued to inch downward in July, though all three remained at historically high levels in the fourth month of the coronavirus pandemic. The combined civilian unemployment rate for the tri-county area was 10.7 percent in July, according to a Business Times analysis of data Read More →
