Regulators force banks to play defense
Largely innocent bystanders in the financial meltdown that gripped Wall Street a year ago, community banks have been walking around with targets on their backs. A severe crackdown by regulators, including threats to get capital ratios up, shrink loan portfolios or face seizure, has put bank executives on the defensive. “We’re getting speeding tickets for Read More →
Cabrillo Business Park breaks ground, 12 years in the making
In 1997, Bill Clinton was president, Harry Potter was introduced to the world, and the development process began on an office project in the as-yet-unincorporated city of Goleta. Now, almost 12 years later, the Cabrillo Business Park has finally broken ground. It will eventually have 956,000 square feet of space on Hollister Avenue and 42 Read More →
Sieg Borck finds niche in aerospace
Sieg Borck is not a rocket scientist, but he certainly knows a lot of them. Products built by his Camarillo-based company, Hi-Temp Insulation, have helped carry astronauts into space and every day they keep thousands of airliners flying by dissipating the heat from their high-tech engines. As Stephen Nellis reports on this page, his 500-person Read More →
They
As we approach the end of October, Halloween forces us to think about things that are typically considered scary: monsters, witches, ghosts … the real estate market. This year has seen some truly horrific home sales statistics, and now spooked real estate agents and developers can only dream of the good ol’ days when Read More →
Paso Robles shopping center debuts with opening of Lowe
Lowe’s is now open for business in San Luis Obispo County. The home improvement store had its grand opening Oct. 23 near Highway 46 in northeastern Paso Robles. The 169,112-square-foot Lowe’s is a strong anchor for the 287,900-square-foot Golden Hills Plaza, a $70 million shopping center that is also slated to include a Bed, Bath Read More →
Fed gives Main Street the brush-off
Perhaps in some Hollywood version of reality, the Bacara resort in Goleta really could pass for The Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Bretton Woods, as it is commonly known, was the getaway spot where the framework for the modern financial system was created in the summer of 1944 as the U.S. and Read More →
Dole IPO may confound the skeptics
By the time you read this column, Dole Food Co. should be on the glide path to an initial public stock offering that might mark a turning point for the markets and for long-suffering investors. Emphasis on the word “might.” I’m hedging my bets just a bit when it comes to Westlake Village-based Dole and Read More →