In a sign that Pacific Capital Bancorp’s bondholders may play hardball as it tries to pull together a crucial $500 million rescue deal, the banking company said June 30 that it has again extended the deadline for its debt securities to be cashed in. Bondholders of just $68 million of outstanding debt have turned in [...]
Don’t get too excited about those little signs of economic recovery, California Lutheran University economist Bill Watkins said June 29 in his latest state and federal economic forecast presentation. The recovery will be “soft,” especially in California, and there’s a “pretty high” chance of a double-dip recession, Watkins said during the unveiling of the CLU [...]
Any parent can tell you that children can be an endless source of joy, tears, laughter and stress. For two Santa Barbara County moms, they’re also a source of business inspiration. In Solvang, children’s clothing company Lollybean has seen steady growth since owner Amy McConnell started the business in 2007. With the clothes she designs [...]
The Hearst Corp. announced June 9 that it has purchased the former Paso Robles Meat & Sausage Co. out of bankruptcy. The meat processing facility had been in receivership since June 2009 and was closed by a federal bankruptcy court in March, Hearst said. Hearst said it will lease the plant to Kaney Foods, which [...]
Jim Price, president of Oxnard’s Diversified Minerals, has entered a range of businesses with his 26-person company, but it all adds up to single-minded focus: greener cement. Diversified Minerals builds giant cement silos, runs a railroad spur and blends specialty cements for projects like dams and levies. But its main thrust is to remanufacture [...]
For the past five years, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards — aka the Oscars of business in Los Angeles — have followed an annoyingly familiar script. Really cool South Coast companies get named finalists and they look good in awards videos. But they haven’t exactly lit a fire under the judging [...]
Santa Paula-based Limoneira Co. has come a long way since its early days as a family-owned lemon grower. Today, it’s traded on Wall Street and enjoys tens of millions of dollars in sales each year. And it’s not just a citrus business — Limoneira is now one of the largest players in the tri-county real [...]
A craft beer movement is brewing in the heart of Santa Barbara County’s wine country. By the end of summer, the Santa Ynez Valley — on the national radar as prime California wine country since the 2004 film “Sideways” — will have two companies brewing beer in hand-crafted batches. Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. is retrofitting [...]
As multimillion-dollar foreclosures continue to hit Ventura County, commercial real estate insiders and observers are worried that the pain in the market is a long way from over. “We have a recovery in place, but it’s a very, very slow and weak recovery,” said Kirk Lesh, the senior real estate economist at California Lutheran University [...]
A California Forward meeting for Ventura and Santa Barbara business leaders on June 16 provides a useful marker for how far California has come toward real reform — and how far it needs to go. Over the past several years, voters have overhauled the state’s method for drawing districts and, thanks in part to Lt. [...]
It’s all smiles and sauvignon in Happy Canyon’s vineyards
Towbes Group grabs Goleta with Groupon-like deals at retailers
Social-media IPOs could launch Golden State sustainability fund
Ventura County brokers hold out ’til 2013 for real recovery
Name changes and new faces at SLO and Oxnard law firms
From apartments to industrial spaces, deals close in the region