Carp flower industry standing strong
Flower growers in Carpinteria, the biggest flower-producing region in the state, are working together to try to keep up as their foreign rivals grow more and more competitive. California’s multimillion-dollar cut flower industry is being threatened by federal trade policies that provide subsidies to foreign flower growers, particularly those in Bogota, Colombia, according to a Read More →
Court clears up lunch break rules
Businesses don’t have to force their workers to take lunch breaks – they need only make them available to avoid penalties under California labor law. But they still face the threat of class-action lawsuits if they have a policy of promoting only the employees who work through their lunch breaks. The California Supreme Court handed Read More →
Ceres loses $6.8M in Q1
Energy crop company Ceres lost $6.8 million in the first quarter, it said in its first earnings report after going public in a $65.3 million IPO in late February. The Thousand Oaks-based firm’s loss widened from $5.4 million a year earlier as revenue dropped from $1.6 million to $1.3 million. Despite a $100,000 increase in Read More →
Founders earnings jump in Q1
San Luis Obispo-based Founders Community Bank earned $189,000 in the first quarter, up 220 percent from the $86,000 it earned in the first quarter a year earlier. The bank also announced plans to open a new Morro Bay branch. Loans and deposits were up during the quarter, with noninterest-bearing deposits climbing by $7 billion, CEO Read More →
Umpqua to buy American Perspective Bank for $44.7M
San Luis Obispo-based American Perspective Bank is being purchased by Portland-based Umpqua Holdings Corp. for $44.7 million. Under the deal, announced April 10, Umpqua will pay $10 per share in cash for American Perspective. The San Luis Obispo bank’s three Central Coast branches will be rebranded as Umpqua Bank. The acquisition has been approved by Read More →
Amgen to buy KAI for $315M
Amgen said April 10 that it plans to buy San Francisco-based KAI Pharmaceuticals for $315 million in cash in a deal that would give it worldwide rights to an experimental treatment for patients with chronic kidney disease. Thousand Oaks-based Amgen said the deal would give it worldwide rights, excluding in Japan, to KAI’s lead product, Read More →
