County Commerce reports strong growth in 2009
On Jan. 20, Ventura-based County Commerce Bank released its year-end financial statement, which showed substantial growth in 2009. The bank’s net income was roughly $1 million for 2009, up from $901,000 in 2008. Capital increased 8.49 percent to $13.2 million in 2009 from $12.2 in 2008. During the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2009, assets Read More →
Breaking news update: Pacific Capital sells tax-refund loan program for $10M
Santa Barbara-based Pacific Capital Bancorp will get $10 million for a program that earned the banking firm hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade, a sum that will contribute only “a drop in the bucket” toward curing the bank’s capital woes, one analyst said. The stunningly low price makes the possibility of a Read More →
Chinese cyber attack suspected by Santa Barbara tech firm
A day after Internet giant Google said it might pull out of China because of massive cyber attacks from that country, the lawyers for a Santa Barbara software firm that recently sued the Chinese government said they had been hit by Trojan viruses from China. On Jan. 5, Cybersitter filed a lawsuit in federal court Read More →
Breaking news: Music festival company countersues
Twiin Productions, the firm behind the West Beach Music & Arts Festival in Santa Barbara, has fired back in a legal battle of band bookers taking place on the South Coast. In August, Jackie Kane, another concert organizer, sued Twiin. She alleged that she’d been frozen out of her share of the 2008 festival and Read More →
Breaking news: Deckers on the look-out for new headquarters
Goleta-based shoemaker Deckers Outdoor Corp. is looking for new digs in the Santa Barbara area. Deckers — producer of the Ugg boot, the Teva sandal and Simple brand of shoes — said Jan. 11 that it plans to move its corporate headquarters sometime in 2012. Currrently, the company is located on South Fairview Avenue in Read More →
Insurance merger aids Hub International
The first major deal of 2010 will see two insurance heavyweights combine forces in the Tri-Counties. On Jan. 6, the Central Coast arm of Hub International Insurance acquired Ogilvy-Hill Insurance of Santa Barbara in a transaction that will net Hub millions in additional revenue, an office in Oxnard and 40 more employees. Full terms of Read More →
Breaking news: Former Santa Barbara mayor Harriet Miller dies
Former Santa Barbara Mayor Harriet Miller, a driving force behind the restoration of the Granada Theatre, has died. An educator and former executive director of AARP, Miller served on the Santa Barbara City Council beginning in 1987 and was mayor from 1995-2002. Media reports put her age at 90 years old. Feisty but with a Read More →
