Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a rare appearance in San Luis Obispo on Feb. 8, stopping at REC Solar to herald the company’s announcement that it will add 200 jobs this year, a 40 percent boost in its workforce.


Schwarzenegger, state Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, and other leaders shared REC Solar’s success story as Chief Executive Officer Angiolo Laviziano described his company’s fast-growth track. The company designs and installs solar energy systems for residential users and businesses.

California State University, Channel Islands, is launching a new social business institute it hopes will revolutionize its curriculum — and it has a Nobel laureate as its pitchman.

CSUCI will feature Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, in a keynote event on Feb. 26 that also launches the university’s new California Institute for Social Business.

British-owned grocer Fresh & Easy is invading the Tri-Counties. It’s only been two years since the grocery chain landed on the West Coast, but the company has already opened six markets in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties and has aggressive expansion plans for the area.

Though Pacific Capital Bancorp announced narrower losses and an intent to sell branches, the drama surrounding the fate of the struggling parent of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust is likely to continue for months.

Ventura County citrus growers are bracing themselves for what could be the most dire threat their crops have ever faced. The Asian citrus psyllid, an invasive insect that can transmit an incurable, fatal disease to citrus trees, has been steadily making its way north from Mexico for months and was most recently discovered just 20 miles from the Ventura County line in Van Nuys.