April 19, 2025

		

Jorge Mercado

Jorge Mercado is a staff writer with the Business Times. His beats include technology, agriculture, cannabis, energy and the environment, and higher education.


| Thursday, March 6th, 2025

Global commercial real estate firm enters the Santa Barbara market

Latest news, Real Estate, Santa Barbara County, Subscriber content, Top Stories, Top Story

For years, Colliers, a global commercial real estate firm, has done business in Santa Barbara.  But they, like many other global real estate firms, never committed to having an actual office on the Central Coast, instead opting to simply conduct business from its Southern California offices. That all changed on March 4 when Colliers announced it would be Read More →

| Thursday, March 6th, 2025

Amgen shares up on obesity drug news

Central Coast, Latest news, left, Technology, Tri-County Public Companies

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| Tuesday, March 4th, 2025

Fillmore resident sentence to one year in jail for defrauding Covid-19 relief programs

Latest news, Law & Goverment, Ventura County

Also announced March 4, Fillmore resident Claudia Portugal Cornejo was sentenced to twelve months in jail for defrauding Covid-19 relief programs and stealing more than $101,000 from the County of Ventura, the State of California, and individual victims. Cornejo, 52, pleaded guilty to five felonies on Oct. 21. These included two counts of grand theft, Read More →

| Tuesday, March 4th, 2025

Santa Maria-based financial advisor convicted of wire fraud

Latest news, Law & Goverment, Santa Barbara County

A Santa Barbara County investment advisor who admitted to defrauding elderly clients for years to the tune of $2.25 million pleaded guilty to wire fraud on March 4. Darrah, 52 and a resident of Santa Maria, is currently free on a $50,000 bond, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. She faces a Read More →

| Monday, March 3rd, 2025

Microsoft’s newest quantum processor has UCSB roots

Higher Education, Latest news, Santa Barbara County, Subscriber content, Technology

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| Monday, March 3rd, 2025

Direct Relief is prepared for a busier 2025

Columns, Latest news, left, Nonprofits, Santa Barbara County, Subscriber content

Santa Barbara-based Direct Relief recently announced it has been awarded the 2025 Seoul Peace Prize, another award for the nonprofit, but more importantly, a sign that the organization will be fine as it enters a new era following the departure of longtime CEO Thomas Tighe. “This award, like all others, is a reflection of the Read More →

| Thursday, February 27th, 2025

MB&T, Aeluma, The Trade Desk add to their boards

Banking & Finance, Central Coast, Columns, Latest news, Technology, Tri-County Public Companies

• Montecito Bank & Trust has appointed two new members to its board of directors, Dr. Igor Mezic and Veronica Quintana. Mezic is the chief technical officer and co-founder of MixMode, an AI cybersecurity company based in Santa Barbara. He is also the co-founder of another AI company in Santa Barbara, AIMdyn. Based in Oxnard, Read More →