Higher profits in hand, region’s banks look to expand
Pacific Capital Bancorp, the largest banking company based in the Tri-Counties, turned a $70.5 million profit in 2011 after years of staggering losses. At the same time, First California Financial Group and Heritage Oaks Bancorp, the next two largest banks on the list, reported improved earnings for the year and bold plans to expand. Here’s Read More →
Fed economist forecasts 2.5% growth this year
Zimmerman: Inflation is expected to be at around 1.5 percent in 2012 and 2013.
Deckers CEO: Company culture is what counts
In a globalized world, vision and culture are the keys to creating and marketing successful new products. That’s the message Deckers Outdoor Corp. CEO Angel Martinez brought to about 250 Central Coast business leaders at the Feb. 2 Corporate Leaders Breakfast at California Lutheran University. “Our mission is to find niche brands and turn them Read More →
Level to break ground on new HQ
Level Studios, a San Luis Obispo-based digital marketing and branding firm, said it plans to break ground Feb. 3 on a new 46,000-square-foot, two-story building on the Central Coast that will house up to 300 employees in the next two years. The new facility will be built in the East Airport Commerce Park in San Read More →
Inphi taps new CEO after profits fall 93%
Inphi Corp., the Santa Clara-based chip firm with a large engineering force in Thousand Oaks, ousted its CEO on Feb. 1 as it announced that profits plummeted by 93 percent in 2011. Inphi designs chips aimed at packing more memory into Internet servers and increasing bandwidth in the Internet backbone. The company announced that Ford Read More →
InTouch scores $6M investment
Goleta-based InTouch Health, a telemedicine robot maker, has received an investment of $6 million from iRobot. InTouch’s telemedicine robots allow doctors to examine patients and prescribe drugs remotely. The company, which has signaled that it intends to go public, received its last round of funding in a $10 million private placement in 2010. In July, Read More →
New owners field offers for Bacara
Six months after Ohana Real Estate Investors bought Bacara Resort & Spa for an estimated $104 million, industry sources say the luxury hotel is back on the market. According to several Santa Barbara hotel operators, a major international hotel chain recently approached Ohana with an unsolicited inquiry to purchase the 360-room Goleta resort. The offer Read More →
