Unemployment rate drops again in region and state
Unemployment in the tri-county region dropped to 6.4% in March, the second lowest rate since the pandemic began, according to Business Times analysis of data released by the California Employment Development Department on April 16. The regional and state job markets improved as COVID-19 declined from their January high mark. The tri-county unemployment rate was Read More →
First Southwest Airlines flight lands in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara rolled out the red, yellow and blue balloons as Southwest Airlines made its Central Coast debut on April 12. The Dallas, Texas-based airline’s brightly painted Boeing 737 aircraft arrived on time or even a few minutes early from Oakland and Denver to start what is expected to be a busy season for Santa Read More →
More conflict on tap in Figueroa Mountain’s bankruptcy
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In Ventura County, yellow tier may not be far away
Changing state regulations, lower transmission rates and a strong push towards vaccinations helped Ventura County become the first county in the tri-county region to reach the orange tier of California’s COVID-19 reopening system. The state announced new regulations on April 6 as it hit its second statewide vaccine equity metric goal, which was designed to Read More →
Inogen adds executive VP; co-founder Myers to step down
Inogen, a Goleta-based medical technology company that makes portable oxygen concentrators, announced April 7 that it has hired Georg Parr as executive vice president and chief commercial officer. Byron Myers, a member of Inogen’s founding team and the current executive vice president for marketing, will step down on June 4, as will Arron Retterer, the Read More →
Ventura County to enter orange tier; Santa Barbara and SLO lag behind
Ventura County will be the first in the tri-county region to reach the orange tier of California’s COVID-19 reopening system on April 7, while both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties have failed to progress past the more restrictive red tier. Orange is the second least restrictive tier and means the spread of COVID Read More →
Bank of America buys Santa Barbara health care payment company
Axia Technologies, a Santa Barbara-based health care payment and technology company, has been acquired by Bank of America. The terms of the acquisition were not immediately announced, but in an April 2 news release announcing the deal, Bank of America said the move is part of a lager strategy to bring additional merchant services onto Read More →
