Financing the fields: Ag lender reflects on U.S. vs. Europe
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Financing the fields: Ag lender reflects on U.S. vs. Europe
During the past year, Jetze Kempenaar, Rabobank’s regional manager for agriculture in the Tri-Counties, has seen the financial world turned upside down. But the world of farming is still pretty well grounded, said Kempenaar, who works for one of two AAA-rated banks in the world. “People have to keep eating their strawberries and broccoli,” said Read More →
Tea Fire: $500M and counting
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Saturday, November 22nd, 2008 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Tea Fire: $500M and counting
The embers are out, and investigators have disclosed that Santa Barbara County’s Tea Fire was the result of a foolishly abandoned bonfire. But for the owners of 210 lost homes in Montecito and Santa Barbara, life will never be quite the same. And with damage claims expected to reach half a billion dollars or more, Read More →
Inferno remembered
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Friday, November 14th, 2008 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Inferno remembered
As flames engulfed Stearns Wharf on Nov. 18, 1998, high enough to see for miles, Jose Torres stood at the pier’s entrance with one thought: “We lost our jobs.” Torres was and still is the general manager of Moby Dick Restaurant, one of the three businesses leveled by a fire that burned about 20 percent Read More →
Coattails and Close Races
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Friday, November 7th, 2008 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Coattails and Close Races
The historic Presidential election of 2008 produced a mixed bag of results on economic issues up and down the Tri-Counties. Measure A, which extends Santa Barbara County’s transportation tax and puts a widening of Highway 101 at the top of the transportation agenda, passed handily, reflecting broad political support. Also, Measure V, the Oxnard traffic Read More →
The Firestone legacy
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Friday, October 31st, 2008 / Top Stories / Comments Off on The Firestone legacy
As much as Supervisor Brooks Firestone is a product of his family name, he has created his own legacy. “When I was born, in my early days, being named Firestone was a significant part of one’s life. It is not so now,” he said in an interview with the Business Times. “We were the second-largest Read More →
Giving deficit
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Giving deficit
For nonprofits, 2008 has not been a good year. Unfortunately, it’s probably going to get even worse. Heading into the holiday season – the donation primetime – individuals and businesses are shoving their wallets back into their pockets, worried that they may need to put money toward food and living expenses rather than toward charities. Read More →
Sage expands reach with CQ merger
By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff / Saturday, October 18th, 2008 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Sage expands reach with CQ merger
Following one of the company’s largest acquisitions, Thousand Oaks-based Sage Publications is expanding its national presence in the academic scene. On May 30, the company announced it was buying CQ Press, the book-publishing unit of Washington-based Congressional Quarterly. More than four months later, executives are still working out the details of how the two companies, Read More →
