Heritage Oaks to raise $60M
Just days after receiving orders from federal regulators to submit a plan to keep its capital levels up, Paso Robles-based Heritage Oaks Bank said March 10 it intends to raise $60 million by selling securities. The bank, which has 13 tri-county branches and is the parent of Business First Bank in Santa Barbara, said the Read More →
Semtech shows $9.5M profit in Q4
Fresh off a $180 million, all-cash buyout of another chipmaker, Camarillo-based Semtech turned in a $9.5 million profit on $85 million in revenue for the fourth quarter March 10, up from $6.3 million the year before. Semtech makes chips for the popular BlackBerry phones and other high-end mobile devices. The fourth-quarter profit was up from Read More →
Santa Barbara contractors decry union-backed plan
Construction contractors and business leaders on March 10 denounced a proposal they say would discriminate against non-union shops and drive up building costs for taxpayers in Santa Barbara County. John Holehouse, president of Holehouse Construction Co., called a proposal to restrict bidding on public projects in the county to union shops “a shark dressed as Read More →
PCBC's top legal exec to retire
Fred Clough, executive vice president and general counsel at Pacific Capital Bancorp, the struggling parent of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, will leave the company at the end of the month. Clough’s retirement will become effective a few weeks after the departure of Chief Financial Officer Stephen Masterson, who announced in December that he will Read More →
Heritage Oaks signs accord with Fed
Federal banking regulators have halted dividends at Paso Robles-based Heritage Oaks Bank and given the company two months to submit a plan to keep up its capital levels. The order was expected. In November, Heritage Oaks filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise capital and warned it might be subject to orders Read More →
Chu pushes for nuclear power, carbon caps
Speaking in Goleta, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu on March 5 defended the Obama administration’s decision to oppose a long-term nuclear waste storage site in Nevada and urged lawmakers to avoid protectionism in funding renewable energy. A day after the Obama administration roiled the nuclear power industry by seeking to terminate a plan to Read More →
State Street gets new lease on retail life
After sitting vacant for months, the former Anchor Blue space at 820 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara has been leased to apparel retailer G by Guess. The 5,832-square-foot space became available after Anchor Blue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid-2009 and closed many of its stores. The apparel retailer’s State Street lease, first Read More →
