Crop values hit $4.4B as drought parches strawberries
Agribusiness, Central Coast, East Ventura County, Green Coast, Latest news, South Coast, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy, West Ventura County, Wine & ViticultureDrought conditions sapped 12 percent of the value of strawberry production in Ventura County while wine grapes surged for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties to help boost the region’s crop values to $4.4 billion, according to reports on last year’s crops.
Snatching a larger slice: Persona pizzeria plots nationwide expansion
Restaurants, Small Business, South Coast, Top Stories, Tri-County EconomySanta Barbara-based Persona Neapolitan Pizza is embarking on a nationwide expansion as competition heats up in the fast-casual, wood-fired pizza market.
A labor of leather: Craftsman adds artisan touch to family trade
Small Business, South Coast, Top Stories, Tri-County EconomyWith the warm, heavy smell of leather in the air, Steven Soria sits in his single-room shop in downtown Santa Barbara amid work tables crowded with metal machinery and tools.
American Dream, millennial edition: Young restaurateurs in Isla Vista
Restaurants, Small Business, South Coast, Top Stories, Tri-County EconomyDaniel Dunietz and Sean Evans, both in their 20s, enjoy a friendly rivalry as neighboring small-business owners in the student-dominated community of Isla Vista, next to UC Santa Barbara.
Tech-savvy Ventura County grower re-engineers approach to raspberries
Agribusiness, Small Business, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy, West Ventura CountyJurgen Gramckow is one of a few Ventura County raspberry growers who are making the crop one of the county’s highest-grossing agricultural products.
Visitors pour in to Tri-Counties for wine tourism
Top Stories, Tourism, Wine & ViticultureTourism visitor spending in the coastal region that includes the Tri-Counties jumped from $6.7 billion to $7 billion between 2012 and 2013 as part of a 23 percent increase since 2009 that is expected to continue this summer.
