Jobs agenda meets politics of obstruction
When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up in San Luis Obispo on Feb. 8 to make his pitch for a $500 million plan for job growth and green tax credits, he was preaching to his kind of business leaders. Central Coast Republicans and Democrats alike often find common ground with the governor’s mix of faith in Read More →
Hayes report: Half of 2009 sales on South Coast from four transactions
Hayes Commercial Group in Santa Barbara just released its year-end report, with some grim numbers that just go to prove 2009 is best left forgotten. To its credit, the Hayes team found some unexpected countertrends and even signs of growth among the depressing stats, but the fact remains that real estate remained lackluster in 2009 Read More →
Quality guru weighs in on Toyota
With pundits, politicians and even Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak piling on Toyota Motor Co. over acceleration problems with U.S. and European models, I turned to one of the experts in quality and consumer preferences. Jamey Power is former vice president of international operations at Thousand Oaks-based J.D. Power & Associates and co-author of “Satisfaction: How Read More →
Real estate firms deliver relief, one square foot at a time
Two Santa Barbara-based real estate firms are doing their part to help Direct Relief International’s Haitian relief efforts. After a magnitude-7 earthquake struck the small island nation on Jan. 12, Goleta-based nonprofit DRI started receiving an enormous amount of aid – pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies – but had nowhere to put it. “We already Read More →
Giving small banks a path to profitability
In the film “Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World,” Jack Aubrey, played by Russell Crowe, cleverly jokes about “choosing the lesser to two weevils.” When it comes to banking the choice is not quite so clever, but just as clear. Banks, especially those deemed “too big to fail” must go back into Read More →
NAI report: Ventura County has seen the worst of CRE woes
Ventura County’s office market is still reeling from the Countrywide collapse, according to a recently released NAI report. Office vacancy in the county is still up, and the NAI market report puts the number around 20 percent and notes that net absorption was negative through the third quarter of 2009. “Office space is tough Read More →
Green Coast summit puts iZone on map
On Jan. 21, some 80 business, community and educational leaders met to kick off a project that has evolved from a column in this newspaper into something called the Green Coast Innovation Zone. It was a rare moment when the leadership of all three counties — Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo — were Read More →
