Towbes: Banks will show care with business loans
Latest newsRisk-based capital ratios of 12 percent to 13 percent are the new normal for community banks, according to Montecito Bank & Trust Chairman Michael Towbes. Speaking to community leaders at a United Way of Santa Barbara County luncheon on July 13, Towbes recounted how he and co-founder John O’Keefe had a hard time raising $1.25 Read More →
Maldonado to speak at Spirit of Small Business event
Latest newsLt. Gov. Abel Maldonado will be the keynote speaker at the Pacific Coast Business Times’ 8th Annual Spirit of Small Business Awards luncheon in Santa Barbara on Aug. 12. Since taking office in late April, Maldonado has made job growth and economic development his top priority. A Republican and a former state senator from Santa Read More →
$1B CKE acquisition deal finalized
Latest newsCKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl’s Jr., said July 12 that it has completed its $1 billion merger with private equity firm Apollo Management. The deal takes the Carpinteria-based fast food company private. CKE executives have sought to reassure the company’s 179 employees on the South Coast that not much would change after a Read More →
New SBA exec appointed
Latest newsThe U.S. Small Business Administration announced July 1 that Elizabeth Echols will be its new regional administrator for the area that includes the Tri-Counties. The SBA’s Region IX covers California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii and Guam. Under the federal stimulus act, the regional office has backed nearly $6 billion in loans to small businesses, according to Read More →
New water runoff rules approved
Latest newsBuilding advocates are claiming a modest victory after water regulators approved changes to proposed storm water rules that would give developers a more affordable tool to help manage runoff. The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board labored late into the evening July 8 to work out changes to rules that will affect how all Read More →
Cottage, CSUCI announce new nursing program
Latest newsSanta Barbara County’s first program to offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing will open in 2012 under the leadership of CSU Channel Islands and Cottage Health System, university and hospital officials announced July 9. The program will be in a facility next to Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital, one of three Cottage hospitals in Santa Barbara County. Read More →
Final mortgage fraud suspect arrested
Latest newsFederal agents have arrested the 14th and final person charged with mortgage-related fraud in two cases in Ventura County, the Ventura County Star reported. The first 13 were arrested June 16, but the 14th, Richard Ceniseroz of Oxnard, was traveling abroad at the time. He was arrested later and arraigned on June 28.