T.O. bank looks to raise $10M in stock sale
California Oaks State Bank, a community business bank based in Thousand Oaks, announced Feb. 17 that it plans to raise up to $10 million to buy back stock, pay down its bailout money and potentially snap up assets from failed banks. California Oaks, which also has a location in Simi Valley, said it will offer Read More →
Pacific Capital hires troubled-loan czar
Santa Barbara-based Pacific Capital Bancorp, the struggling parent of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, has named Paul Alexander to oversee the team that addresses the company’s troubled assets, the source of many of the bank’s capital woes over the past year. Since last spring, Pacific Capital has been under a voluntary agreement with regulators to Read More →
Flower industry looks for love and money
Valentine’s Day kicks off the busiest time of the year for the Tri-Counties’ $175 million cut-flower industry, and growers say they could have their most profitable season in years. Reeling from a steep decline in sales last year and a Valentine’s Day that falls on a sales-dampening Sunday, growers have made their operations leaner but Read More →
Select Staffing
Santa Barbara-based Select Staffing’s deal to go public and pay off $200 million in debt has fallen though. With $1.5 billion in revenue in 2009, Select Staffing, a temporary employment firm, is the largest private company in the Tri-Counties. The company said Dec. 11 that it planned to join up with Florida-based Atlas Acquisition Holding Corp., Read More →
Deals, recruiting show growing Santa Barbara tech sector
In a sign of a booming Santa Barbara technology sector that is still hiring, Flir Systems paid $25 million in cash for 170,000 square feet of space across two buildings in Goleta. A company official disclosed the price of the transaction, which was formally announced last week, at a technology employment outlook luncheon held by Read More →
Gov. heralds job growth at SLO firm
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a rare appearance in San Luis Obispo on Feb. 8, stopping at REC Solar to herald the company’s announcement that it will add 200 jobs this year, a 40 percent boost in its workforce. Schwarzenegger, state Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, and other leaders shared REC Solar’s success story as Chief Read More →
Schniepp: Ventura County will see turnaround in 2010
Economist Mark Schniepp thinks the lowest point in the recession has passed and that 2010 will be a transition year for Ventura County. Schniepp, director of the California Economic Forecast in Goleta, predicted a recovery for the county during his presentation at the 2010 Ventura County Real Estate & Economic Outlook held in Westlake Village Read More →
