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By Marlize van Romburgh / Monday, November 8th, 2010 / Features, Small Business / Comments Off on Sweet success: Region’s candy firms expand
The shelves at Kingston’s Candy Co. are stacked with enough Pixy Stix, Gummi Bears, Abba Zabbas, Moon Pies, bubblegum, Smarties and chocolate bars to make Willy Wonka himself proud. “Nine months ago I was in the corporate world, and here I am having fun in candy land,” owner Sarah Jaimes says from behind a center Read More →
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By Stephen Nellis / Monday, November 1st, 2010 / Features, Nonprofits, Technology / Comments Off on Giving more than time: Tech companies lend their skills to nonprofits
When businesses think about giving back to their communities, they typically turn to giving cash or volunteering to help build houses or serve up food. But tri-county technology companies are finding they can have a big impact in just a few hours by donating their skills and expertise. In San Luis Obispo, Hathway, a Web Read More →
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By Stephen Nellis / Monday, November 1st, 2010 / Features, Technology / Comments Off on Second acts: Industry veterans start new Web ad firms
Amid a resurgence of tri-county startups in online advertising technology, Dave Gross, one of the industry’s most successful veterans, is back in the game with a new venture. Gross co-founded Fastclick in Santa Barbara. After a successful initial public offering in 2005, it was bought by Westlake Village-based ValueClick for $220 million. Since then, Read More →
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By Stephen Nellis / Monday, November 1st, 2010 / Features / Comments Off on Nanosociology: UCSB center studies impact of nanotech
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have secured another $6.1 million grant to keep asking the big questions about very small things. UCSB is well known for its nanotechnology research. It splits the California NanoSystems Institute with UCLA, and researchers at its Center for Nanomedicine have already made the cover of Science, one of the most Read More →
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By Stephen Nellis / Monday, October 25th, 2010 / Features, Technology / Comments Off on Facebook doesn’t forget
Like it or not, about four in five businesses Google their prospective hires and look at public Facebook profiles. Santa Barbara-based Social Intelligence Corp. wants to take that task off their hands. The reason is that unstructured online sleuthing can put an employer in a thorny position. One the one hand, businesses can be sued Read More →
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By Stephen Nellis / Monday, October 25th, 2010 / Features, Technology / Comments Off on TrueVision sets its sights on Chinese market
TrueVision Systems, a Santa Barbara-based surgical technology firm, has sealed a deal to create a joint venture with a Chinese medical device company and will soon begin selling its gear in China. TrueVision makes a big-screen, 3-D display system that attaches to a surgeon’s microscope — think “Avatar” meets brain and eye surgery. The startup Read More →
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By Marlize van Romburgh / Monday, October 18th, 2010 / Features, Real Estate, Tri-County Economy / Comments Off on Downtown’s starring role: Atascadero will get new movie theater, retail center
Atascadero’s small-town days may be numbered. The city of 28,000 people has several large developments in the pipeline, including its $13 million Colony Square project, which would bring 14,000 square feet of retail space and 10 movie screens to the currently theater-less city. Plans for a 130,000-square-foot Wal-Mart are about halfway through the environmental review Read More →
