Perils and promise for an ugly budget deal
As this newspaper was going to press, the California budget was little more than a thumbnail sketch produced for the media and the credit markets. Nonetheless, the compromise had the required impact — headlines for the press and a dramatic decline in the interest rate on Golden State bonds. Although the heavy lifting on the Read More →
Swimming against the tide
Venture capital investment is settling to pre-Internet-bubble levels but tri-county start-ups are holding their own, with a handful of start-ups keeping the deals flowing and the cash coming in. Nationally, the picture is ugly: Venture capital investments dropped 37 percent, from $8.3 billion to $5.3 billion, in the second quarter compared with the same period Read More →
Audit uncovers dirt on county trash business
As Santa Barbara County begins mulling who will get lucrative trash-hauling contracts in 2011, an audit of the county’s current providers showed that one of them underpaid the county nearly $20,000 and overcharged customers more than $177,000. County officials aren’t yet hinting whether the errors they found could mean a shake-up for the three companies Read More →
Radio Square developer faces foreclosure on Yanonali property
The company facing foreclosure on Radio Square in Santa Barbara is now battling litigation on a second project in the city. Laguna Hills-based DBN Development allegedly failed to repay a $5.5 million loan for the Yanonali Street property it purchased in 2006. The project’s lender, San Francisco-based United Commercial Bank, filed a lawsuit in Read More →
The region
When University of California, Santa Barbara, Chancellor Henry Yang spoke at a UCSB economic forecast event in April, his remarks underscored how deeply embedded the university is in the business community. “Our faculty, staff, students and alumni have all been a fundamental part of the development of the Central Coast’s high-tech economy,” he said, adding Read More →
No Whole Foods for Oxnard yet
Whole Foods Market is coming to Oxnard. But not in 2009, and maybe not even in 2010. The upscale health food retailer will have 173 employees in Santa Barbara when it opens its doors there on Oct. 7, but it may be quite a while before Oxnard sees its branch come to fruition. Originally set Read More →
