Small business sees brighter future
Nothing lasts forever. That goes for recessions as well as good times. The City Business Journals Network, an organization based in Charlotte, N.C. — of which the Business Times is an affiliated member — reports that small- and medium-sized businesses are more optimistic about the economy than at any time in the past year. In Read More →
One Carpinteria vendor
Bill Connell operates the ultimate small business, and now, he and his little hot dog stand in Carpinteria have had a taste of the ultimate victory. For 16 years, Connell sparred with the State Board of Equalization over the interpretation of an 1872 statute exempting from paying various taxes street peddlers who are also disabled Read More →
Navy
When Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus came to Santa Barbara to speak before the regional chapter of the Navy League, not many people had heard of the “Green Fleet.” And, indeed, there is a fair amount of public relations value involved — just as Theodore Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet” which sailed the Pacific at Read More →
Orfalea celebrates individual success
At a time when business leadership seems sorely lacking across the region, the state and the nation, it’s great to see someone emerge from the pack with enthusiasm, optimism and a few great ideas. That person happens to be Kinko’s founder Paul Orfalea. Though long departed from the company he founded in Isla Vista and Read More →
OCC shows it lacks transparency
We were disappointed to learn that a representative of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency backed out of a recent speaking engagement at Coastal Business Finance, the Santa Maria-based leader in small business finance. Such a talk might have done a lot to help bankers and borrowers meet face-to-face with one of the Read More →
Constitutional convention would come with its risks
When it comes to cleaning up the fiscal mess that goes by the name “California,” there’s no shortage of proposed solutions. Two very different approaches were the subject of the Ventura County Economic Development Association’s 2009 Outlook Conference. Solution one is a series of targeted, single-purpose ballot initiatives aimed at ending the annual budget gridlock Read More →
The three-step tax fix for California
Here’s a simple, three-step fix to California’s budget. First, cap the flat tax on individual income at 7.5 percent. Use a 10-year history to estimate what the average level of revenue will be with taxes at that level. That plus the state sales tax and other levies should really be California’s baseline for spending. It Read More →
