Celerus catches $5M to fund research
UncategorizedCelerus Diagnostics is raising money, rolling out new products and settling into its expanded home. The Carpinteria company developed a machine that drastically cuts down the time it takes to diagnose cancers. In recent weeks, the firm has closed a $5 million funding round, expanded its offerings to identify more kinds of cancer and brought Read More →
Billions riding on May 19
UncategorizedThe plug for California’s $42 billion budget hole makes just about nobody happy, but business groups are reluctantly lining up behind it. Six propositions designed to balance California’s budget, Props. 1A through 1F, will go before voters May 19. They contain a combination of spending limits, greater reserve funds for down years, sustained tax increases Read More →
Travel agencies hit turbulence – Internet, recession force firms to reevaluate business plans
UncategorizedIf any industry is facing a double-whammy right now, it would be the one hit by the recession and squeezed by Internet competition: the travel agency industry. Yet travel agents across the tri-county area seem cautiously optimistic about their prospects for the future, even in the face of a sharp nationwide decline in leisure and Read More →
SBA looks to ignite small business growth
UncategorizedThe Small Business Administration is hoping that a $15 billion program, unveiled March 16, will accelerate loans to entrepreneurs and get the job-generating engine of small business back on track in the Tri-Counties. Alberto Alvarado, acting regional administrator for the SBA, said in a telephone interview that the credit crunch has taken a big toll Read More →
Film gives creative director a second life
FeaturesNineteen employees at Weiser Creative are savoring the success of Tom Nance, a former employee who wrote and co-produced “Sherman’s Way,” a film that’s getting national press and picking up awards at film festivals. However, the savoring is bittersweet. Nance, the longtime creative director at Weiser, died in a motorcycle accident last September, just as Read More →
Bold plan for First California – Acquisition gives bank foothold in Inland Empire
FeaturesWhen First California Bank snatched failed 1st Centennial Bank off the auction block, it added six more branches to its extensive list of locations and expanded the bank’s already prominent Southern California presence. In late January, Westlake Village-based First California made a strategic move, spending $100 million to acquire the insured deposits of 1st Centennial Read More →
