Pumpkin patches are gourd mines: Specialty growers cash in on seasonal squash
The Golden State is No. 2 in the nation for pumpkins and last year produced about 93,500 tons of the crop on roughly 505,000 acres. Much of the crop is earmarked for commercial purposes and shipped out of state, but the growth of community-based pumpkin patches has accelerated over the past decade, according to California Farm Bureau Federation spokesperson Dave Kranz.
First coffee, then the world: Teeccino breaks into breakfast market
After spending the past 18 years growing the leading coffee alternative product in the country, Carpinteria-based Teeccino is expanding into the fast-growing health foods market.
Soda space race: Rocket Fizz goes national with franchising
Rocket Fizz founders Robert Powells and Ryan Morgan have built a nationwide soda-pop enterprise out of quirky novelty creations such as their best-selling bacon-flavored soda and glow-in-the-dark “Martian Poop” soda.
Strolling into a bigger market: SeaVees opens first company-owned showroom
As corporate relocations go, this was a minor one. SeaVees, the shoe company that resurrected a 50-year-old brand name a few years ago, recently moved its headquarters about a block and a half in downtown Santa Barbara.
To catch a hacker: Camarillo firm releases security system
A small Camarillo IT firm is making its stand against the avalanche of hacking attempts that slows down Internet access on a daily basis.
Bottle it up: Vapur exec, daughter team to put filling stations in schools
Kathryn Reinke had the idea to team up with her father’s water bottle company, Westlake Village-based Vapur, to raise money to install new fountains that would have cold, filtered water in addition to a “filling station” feature that would let students easily refill reusable water bottles.
Business Times founder honored with entrepreneurship award
Henry Dubroff, the founder, editor and chairman of the Pacific Coast Business Times, was honored with the Joe Nida Entrepreneurial Spirit Award at the 2013 Clean Business Investment Summit in Santa Barbara on Sept. 12.
The award recognizes exceptional work promoting entrepreneurship on the South Coast. “Henry has been at the heart of the success of so many entrepreneurs, businesses, and organizations throughout our region — including our own,” California Coast Venture Forum CEO Jerry Knotts said in a statement. “We are extremely honored to present The Joe Nida Spirit Award to Henry, to acknowledge his exhaustive efforts on behalf of entrepreneurs and to salute him as an example of entrepreneurship and clean business growth.”
