Introducing the Business Times 2025 Hall of Fame Honorees and 25th Anniversary Celebration
The Pacific Coast Business Times, the weekly business journal for the Central Coast, is inducting five new members into its Hall of Fame as part of its celebration of its 25th Anniversary. Launched on March 17, 2000, the Business Times has won multiple awards for its coverage of business and economic news in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
“We’re excited to be celebrating a quarter century of excellence in financial journalism,” said Henry Dubroff, the founder, owner and editor.
The five honorees include: Cal Poly President Jeff Armstrong, Limoneira CEO Harold Edwards, Lazer Broadcasting Founder Alfredo Plascencia, Saalex founder/CEO Travis Mack and Village Properties owner Renee Grubb.
The 2025 honorees will be installed at an awards reception on May 22 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Ritz Carlton Bacara at 8301 Hollister Avenue. Please visit our events page, pacbiztimes.com/events/, for more information on purchasing tickets.
Here is a bit of background on each honoree:
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo President Jeffrey Armstrong is being recognized for having been the architect of an incredible effort to advance entrepreneurship on the Central Coast and for his efforts to engage in regionwide economic development solutions
• Harold Edwards is the CEO of Limoneira, one of the oldest agribusinesses in California. Limoneira is a global leader in lemons and a major producer of avocados. Edwards was in the Business Times’ first class of 40 Under 40 and is a multi-generational owner of the company. Limoneira’s Harvest project is the largest residential development in Ventura County.
• Renee Grubb is the founder and CEO of Village Properties, a successful, independent real estate brokerage in Santa Barbara and a leading woman-owned business on the Central Coast. Her innovation in creating the Teacher’s Fund to help provision and support schools during California’s budget cuts has helped thousands of students in the region.
• Travis Mack is one of the most successful graduates of the SBA’s minority contracting program in the country. Saalex Solutions is now a major government contractor in support of our military and it has large operations in Ridgecrest, Cape Canaveral, Camarillo and a headquarters in Washington, D.C.
• Alfredo Plascencia is the longtime CEO of Lazer Broadcasting, one of the largest Spanish-language radio networks in California. He built the company from a very small operation into a major influencer among the region’s growing Latino community. He’s turned some of the operations over to a new generation and we’re long overdue to honor him.
