Survival skills top chambers
UncategorizedFacing the prospect of tougher renewals and tougher times recruiting new members, tri-county chambers of commerce are trying to help more than 10,000 businesses weather the recession. That’s the result of an informal survey of Chamber leaders conducted by the Business Times in early December. The presidents acknowledged the severity of the economic downturn, but Read More →
J&P gets top SBA award
UncategorizedIn the worst environment for the construction industry since the Great Depression, Jeff Ploutz and his Santa Maria-based J&P Construction are posting a record year. Thanks to repeat contracts from federal agencies and commercial customers, Ploutz has kept a workforce of about 43 busy this year and he’s expecting the future to be just as Read More →
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Small BusinessOnline news start-ups in the Tri-Counties are looking for donations from loyal readers as well as community support to keep them operating through the next year. With signs pointing to a weak start to 2009, it could be an important survival strategy for small online publications that are trying to build brand loyalty on shoestring Read More →
Growth slow, steady for credit unions
UncategorizedWhile the banking industry has been making headlines amid talk of failures and $700 billion bailouts, credit unions quietly have been going about their business. In the Tri-Counties, as in California and many other states, credit unions tend to have less exposure to the housing market than some banks and fewer problems with securitization of Read More →
Joint ventures pay off for nonprofit sector
OpinionLet’s cut right to the chase. There are too many nonprofits in the Tri-Counties. In the best-case scenario, honest, well-meaning nonprofits are simply a little too narrowly conceived and they are a little too overhead-heavy. In the worst-case scenario, they are little fiefdoms for agenda-driven donors that simply duplicate the work of lower-cost providers. One Read More →
