Author Archive | Ray Estrada

South Coast Firm Marks 25th Year with Focus on Women Investors

Business observers around Santa Barbara have noticed that many of the enterprises that have started in the past few years have been geared up by women.

A national trend can be seen in the growing number of women – almost four times the number since the 1970s – are heads of households and control the purse strings of a growing number of families across the country. A well-established local firm seeks to fill the financial advice needs for women investors.

South Coast-based AmeriFlex Financial Services is marking its silver anniversary by addressing the need for financial advice for women.

AmeriFlex, 3700 State St., has been a provider of sound financial advice for its clients for the past 25 years. The new AmeriFlex Woman Investor program is for business owners, executives and busy families. (See www.AmeriFlex.com.)

The AmeriFlex Woman Investor program provides: financial empowerment; collaboration between spouses and trusted advisors; and establish goals to address family financial security. “We focus on responsiveness to our clients’ needs; we believe our clients are best served by the holistic approach to professional integration of various financial disciplines,” said Bibi Taylor, AmeriFlex financial advisor.

Women on average live between five and 10 years longer than men, according to a Boston University study. Half of those women will outlive their spouses. Women start 70 percent of all new businesses, according to Forbes Magazine, and by 2020 women are projected to control two-thirds of the wealth in the United States.

Host Families Sought for Language Students

The international language school Education First in Santa Barbara is seeking host families for the summer as well during it academic year, which starts in September.

EF’s yearly economic impact is more than $8 million to the local economy, school officials said. This comes from host family payouts, students’ spending money on food, clothes, activities and other items, and salaries of the school’s 25 teachers as well as 12 administrative staff.

“EF Santa Barbara embodies our mission to break down barriers of language, culture and geography not only for our students, but for the community as well,” said Fysal Safieh, school director. “We bring the world to Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara to the rest of the world.”

This summer, the EF school welcomes junior students as young as 12. Most of them travel with “school groups” who also have one or two adult leaders. Summer students usually stay between two and eight weeks because this usually fits in with their school breaks. In September, EF welcomes its academic year students who stay for three, six or nine months. Some students during that time that will stay for just two weeks or longer.

Safieh also said, “Every student brings a piece of their home to Santa Barbara and takes a piece of Santa Barbara back home with them. We make the world a smaller and more culturally enriched place.”

“We have hosted 20 international students during these past 20 years,” said Montecito resident and entrepreneur Patty DeDominic. “Our family has been enriched in many ways and now we have friends and adult ‘kids’ in every continent. Sharing our city and American culture with young people is an entertaining and educational odyssey we have lived and plan to continue.”

While the average age for EF students is 20, regular academic year students range in age from 16 to 72. Host families, who are paid a stipend, provide breakfast and dinner Monday through Friday and breakfast lunch and dinner on the weekends.

EF operates 42 schools and offices in 54 countries. Its global network includes 35,000 full-time faculty and 16,500 part-time teachers, leaders and tour directors. To date, EF has helped more than 15 million people to learn a new language, discover the world, or earn an academic degree.

From left are Kathleen Sharp, Perie Longo, AWC-SB’s poet laureate and Marsha Bailey.
PHOTO CREDIT: Rachel S. Thurston

Women’s Group Honors WEV Founder, Author

The Association of Women in Communications, Santa Barbara, on June 5 honored Women’s Economic Ventures founder Marsha Bailey and South Coast author Kathleen Sharp with the organization’s Women of Achievement Awards at a luncheon at the Montecito Country Club.

About 100 men and women at the luncheon also saw the group give its Founders Award to UCSB faculty member Anna Laura Jansma.

More than 22 years ago, Bailey started Women’s Economic Ventures, or WEV, to help women and men start of accelerate their enterprises with training and financial loans. The nonprofit organization now also serves entrepreneurs in Ventura County.

Sharp is the author of “Blood Medicine,” which is being developed into a film by New Regency, and “Mr. & Mrs. Hollywood.” She is a former business writer at the Santa Barbara News-Press.

Past Women of Achievement Award winners include lynda.com co-founder Lynda Weinman, TV anchorwoman Paula Lopez and newspaper columnist Starshine Roshell.

Nutritionist Discusses ‘How to Kick Sugar’ June 13

Santa Barbara resident Melissa Costello, founder of Karma Chow and Santa Barbara View contributor, will lecture on “Kick the Sugar to the Curb,” a free, 45-minute forum at 5:30 p.m. June 13 at the Tecolote Book Shop, 1470 E. Valley Road, Montecito.

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Ken Oplinger

New Santa Barbara Region Chamber of Commerce Chief made his first public appearance in his new capacity as head of the oldest and largest South Coast group of its kind at a May 29 business expo at Earl Warren Showgrounds.

Ken Oplinger was flanked by Zoe Taylor, interim chamber chief for the past year. She took on that role after 24-year chamber boss Steve Cushman abruptly quit after the departure of his vice president and marketing director the month before. Taylor says she’s considering a similar position in Bend, Ore., but is she doesn’t take it, she’ll catch up on family matters. Continue Reading →

Tyler Farrar, center, Ken Hanson, left, and Gianni Meersman, right, finished 1-2-3 in Wednesday’s Stage 4.

Former Santa Barbara resident Ken Hanson, runner-up in Wednesday’s Amgen Tour of California bike race, summed it all up at a post Stage 4 news conference: “I’m really happy the race came back here,” Hanson said, referring to the 2008 race, which drew thousands of South Coast visitors, helped fill hundreds of hotel and motel rooms and meant more than $1 million in taxable sales for the county.

Michelle Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara Convention & Visitor Bureau, said her agency expects 2013’s revenue numbers to be as good or better than the last time the race went through the region in 2008. Cyclists head Avila Beach on Thursday and will end up in Santa Rosa on Friday.

For all the road closures and rush-hour traffic headaches the Amgen Tour may have caused, it put smiles on the faces of many people in the hospitality industry and retail businesses. Despite a mid-week date, the race still managed to draw thousands of cheering spectators along Cabrillo Boulevard where cyclist Tyler Farrar took first-place for Stage 4. Continue Reading →

SB County Moving Ahead in Wake of Recession

Santa Barbara County is crawling out of the recession with gains in employment and home prices, experts told several hundred people at the May 2 annual UCSB Economic Forecast Summit at the Granada Theater.

People are getting back to work,” said Peter Rupert, head of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project. “But most of the new jobs are low paying.”

Rupert said it’s best to look at the employment-to-population ration rather than just the unemployment rate, which is 7.8 percent in the county. From 2009 to 2012, the best-paying new jobs are in mining, but not many of those are available. Most new jobs are in intelligence technology, retail and restaurant help.

Farm workers are the most plentiful employees in Santa BarbaraCounty where agriculture is a billion-dollar industry. Almost no new government jobs could be found in the county last year because of downsizing in the public sector, Rupert said.

It was interesting to note, Rupert said, that county home prices started falling several years ago earlier than in the rest of the country and state, but now are rising back ahead of the nation.

Another speaker at the summit, Douglas Elliott, a BrookingsInstitute professor and former banker, said he is optimistic the government is doing the right things to prevent another economic crisis like the one that struck in 2008. However, he said, some banks “will still be too big to fail.”

Elliott said he trusts most of the legislation aimed at protecting against another crisis, but he warned that a balance is needed. He said many types of lending institutions, big medium and small still are needed in the U.S. economy. “We have to watch out for too many belts and suspenders,” he said.

He said he is concerned about proposed legislation that calls for breaking up the big banks. “There is too much emphasis on ‘too big to fail,’” Elliott said.

As for global finance, Elliott said it is “moving forward.” He said, “We will have more crises,” but nations must work to make them less severe.

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Economic Summit Will Discuss Federal Bailout

UCSB’s Economic Forecast Project will present the 32nd Annual Santa Barbara County Economic Summit from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. May 2 at the Granada Theatre, 1214 State St .

The summit will feature a discussion on the fallout from the federal bailout of 2008. The half-day summit starts at 7:30 a.m. with check-in and a continental breakfast, followed by three hours of presentations beginning at 8:30 a.m.

The summit is open to the public. Tickets are $200 for the general public and $25 for UCSB students with student identification. The fee includes a copy of the 2013 Santa Barbara County Economic Outlook report, continental breakfast and admission.

Neil Barofsky, the first special inspector general of the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, will discuss his book “Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street.” The former federal prosecutor and senior fellow at New York University will discuss the action behind the $700 billion federal bailout, most of which went to financial firms, banks and automakers.

NYU economics professor Thomas Cooley will discuss the ongoing Eurozone sovereign-debt crisis. Cooley writes about macroeconomic theory, monetary theory and policy and the financial behavior of firms. He has been a senior adviser and member of the Board of Managers of Standard & Poors since December of 2010. Cooley is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The third speaker, Douglas Elliott, a fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, is an expert on the financial sector worldwide and its regulations, corporate, state and local pensions, and the Eurozone.

UCSB economics professor department chairman Peter Rupert will round out the talks with the summit’s main topic: a comprehensive look at local and regional trends in business and industry, as well as in the households of the Central Coast .

Rupert, a former senior research adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland , specializes in macroeconomics, monetary economics, labor, and family economics, and is the associate director of the Laboratory of Aggregate Economics and Finance at UCSB. This is his third year presenting the Santa Barbara County Economic Summit.

After the presentations, Rupert will moderate a panel discussion with the speakers.

For tickets and more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu. Tickets are also available through the Granada at (805) 899-2222 or granadasb.org.

FastSpring Gets First Outside Investor

FastSpring, a Santa Barbara-based e-commerce payment services company for online software vendors, has received equity investment from Pylon Capital, a Los Angeles-based investment firm.

This is the first time since FastSpring was founded in 2005 that the company has accepted an outside investment. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Last year, FastSpring’s revenue surpassed $95 million. The company was ranked No. 53 in Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing companies in the US for 2011.

All four FastSpring co-founders will continue with the company. CEO Dan Engel has been named senior vice president of marketing and will serve on the company’s board of directors, while Ken White, Ryan Dewell, and Jason Foodman will continue with their prior roles. Pylon Capital Managing Partners Chris Lueck and Tom Tzakis will join FastSpring’s management team.

New Book Store Plans Series of Events

The founders of the first independent book store to open in Santa Barbara in 22 years plan to hold a series of “First Edition” pre-launch events, with the first featuring Karma Chow founder Melissa Costello from 5 to 7 p.m. April 25.

Granada Books, 1224 State St., is scheduled to open in June near the Granada Theater. Co-owner Sharon Hoshida, former director of the Women’s Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara . The store owners have signed a 25-year lease for the 3,300-square-foot shop.

On April 25, Costello, a Santa Barbara resident, will sign copies of her book, “The Karma Chow Ultimate Cookbook,” which has 125 plant-based vegan recipes. A certified nutritionist and wellness coach, Costello works one-on-one with clients and leads 30-day, food-based cleanses with large groups.

Costello provides weekly recipes for Santabarabraview.com. She will bring samples of her recipes at the April 25 event.

To attend, RSVP to maria@coastlinemedia.com or (805) 452-5466.

Sit ‘n Sleep Grand Opening Set for April 23

On the other end of State Street , the Sit ‘n Sleep showroom, 314 Anacapa St. , plans to have a grand opening at 10:30 a.m. April 23.

The store is situated between Highway 101 and REI. Sit ‘n Sleep touts itself as Southern California ’s largest mattress retailer and sleep expert after being in business for more than 30 years. The showroom features the company’s Sleep Match Technology, which fits customers for a mattress that is customized to their specific needs.

The Santa Barbara store carries leading mattress brands, including Sealy, Simmons, Serta, Kluft, Tempurpedic, Sherwood, Octaspring, Dr. Breus, and Stearns and Foster.

Large Crowd Expected for Saturday’s First SB Biz Expo

Some 200 people are expected to attend the first Santa Barbara Business Expo, sponsored by the Women’s Community Business Network, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 20 at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Hotel & Resort, 633 E. Cabrillo Blvd.

Organizers plan to make it an annual event, to develop continuity along with the launch of an on-line Business and Services Directory. For more information, e-mail sandy@wcbusinessnetwork.com. Vendors will display products and services they feel will be of interest to the business community of the area.

The expo will feature prominent area business people who will share their experiences and offer business tips and tactics. The expo will include dozens of displays, booths, hand-outs, samples, and information on a variety of organizations with business-oriented products and services.

Top Economist Say Jobs Will Grow Slowly

Touted as the nation’s most accurate economist, professor Sung Won Sohn told a Santa Barbara audience April 12 that he expects the county’s jobless rate to drop to about 7.3 percent by the end of the year, down from 7.8 percent now.

A Wells Fargo Bank senior economist for many years, Sohn now teaches at Cal State Channel Islands. He spoke to about 100 people at Santa Barbara City College on Friday morning.

“ Santa Barbara County is better off that the rest of California ,” Sohn said. However, he said he does not put much faith in innovations such as green technology, business incubators and co-working clubs as the best ways to generate more jobs.

He said Santa Barbara is a great place for a business to operate because the digital revolution allows them to send their services anywhere.

After leaving his native South Korea at the age of 17, Sohn became a U.S. citizen. Despite his belief that China could become the largest economy in the world within the next few decades, he encouraged the audience to always invest in the United States .

“You should never bet against the United States ,” he said. “ America always comes back.”

Even though many U.S. companies relocated overseas recently, some are “reshoring” or coming back. These include GE, Caterpillar and GM. “They have found that it’s cheaper, more efficient and better quality,” he said.

On various issues, Sohn said:

• President Obama’s proposed budget probably won’t get through Congress because it still calls for hundreds of billions of dollars to pay down the national debt;
• Immigration is a good thing for the United States . “We need the people who pick the apples and people who can work for Apple as well,” Sohn said;
• The stock market will continue to improve — even though the overall economy isn’t getting that much better — because the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates low.
• The Fed might raise rates late next year or early 2015 and that will cause stocks to tumble;
• Santa Barbara County jobs will increase, “but at a slow rate.” Most new jobs will be in the professional services and business sector, along with information technology.

Along with teaching at the Camarillo-based university, Sohn is vice chairman on the board of clothing retailer Forever 21 and a former senior economist on the President’s council of Economic Advisors in the White House. The Wall street Journal recognized Sohn as “the nation’s most accurate economist” in 2006.

South Coast Man is Finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year

Dan Engel, CEO and co-founder of FastSpring in Santa Barbara , is a semi-finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award in Greater Los Angeles.

The company makes online sales of other companies’ products and services around the world, such as desktop software, SaaS, games, e-books or other digital products and services. FastSpring is based at 11 W. Victoria St .

The awards program recognizes high-growth entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. The semi-finalists were selected from nearly 60 nominations by a panel of independent judges. Winners will be announced at a gala event on June 18 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Spirited Women, Student Entrepreneurs Honored May 10

Lynda Weinman, co-founder and executive chairwoman of Carpinteria-based lynda.com, will MC the third annual Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards gala dinner on May 10 at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Hotel & Resort.

The awards were created to honor women entrepreneurs in eight categories for their contributions to the economy. Student entrepreneurs also will be honored.

The awards program is collaboration between the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation and the Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Santa Barbara City College, foundation leader Cathy Feldman said at a Tuesday morning news conference at Workzones in Paseo Nuevo.

Winners of the Scheinfeld Center’s May 3 New Venture Challenge business pitch competition for South Coast high school and collegiate students will attend the dinner and receive cash prizes funded by the proceeds from the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards.

The goal of the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation is to honor entrepreneurship at all levels in our community, Feldman said. “The foundation helps us raise money and the banquet help raise funds for the following year,” she said.

“There is nothing else like it,” Feldman said. “We have no agenda other than honoring women and student entrepreneurs.” While another South Coast awards program with a similar name seeks to make a profit for its owners, the Spirit of Entrepreneurship is strictly a charitable organization.

Scheinfeld Center Director Melissa Moreno said Antioch University students and some UCSB Technology Management Program students may be involved in the pitch competition this year. Santa Barbara County high school and Alan Hancock College students also will give pitches.

Some $15,000 in prizes will be awarded.

More Lynda.com News

A 5:15 p.m. Friday reception is planned for Lynda Weinman and her husband, Bruce Heavin, founders of Lynda.com, who will be given an honorary membership to the University Club of Santa Barbara for their involvement in the community and commitment to bettering education.

The cocktail reception includes complimentary champagne and hors d’oeuvres. A bistro dinner will follow the reception.

Last week, it was announced that Lynda.com was laying off 10 percent of its workforce in a reorganization move.

Young Artists Sought for Summer Solstice Scholarship

Santa Barbara’s Summer Solstice Celebration is looking for young artists for the annual Jethro Davis Memorial “Junior Artists” Scholarship.

The program is open to youth 14 to 21 years of age. Recipients will work with Solstice Staff artists in the Solstice workshop to create the ensembles for the parade. The deadline to apply is April 15. This year’s Solstice celebration is from June 21 to 23.

This hands on program gives young people a wonderful opportunity to work collaboratively and utilize their creative talents while they learn about every facet of Celebration Arts, which is something generally not taught in schools,” said Solstice Executive Director Claudia Bratton.  “Solstice provides the expertise, the materials, the instruction, and the place. There are after-school workshop hours to accommodate young, aspiring artists.”

The Junior Artist position honors the memory of Jethro Davis, the first Solstice Junior Artist in Residence from 1994-1999. He created five major pieces, introduced dozens of his friends to Summer Solstice and the arts community, but died in an accident in 2001.

An application is online at www.solsticeparade.com. Interested young artists also can apply by submitting a letter to Summer Solstice about themselves and their desire to participate in this program via email, fax, or mail.  This must be received by April 15 to accommodate the workshop schedule from mid-May through late June.

Solstice is still on the lookout for a workshop space for this year’s workshop. The space needs to be at least 6,000 square feet or more and have electrical and sewer connections.  It also needs to be in the downtown area.

Vegan, Vegetarian Cooking Demonstration Set April 13

A cooking demonstration and book signing is planned for 2 p.m. April 13 at Yoga Soup, 28 Parker Way, Santa Barbara, featuring South Coast-based culinary nutritionist Melissa Costello, founder of Karma Chow.

Costello will make Euphoria Nuggets, Banana Chia Pudding and Cashew Crème Parfait. She will sign copies of “The Karma Chow Ultimate Cookbook,” which contains more than 125 plant-based, vegan recipes.

Admission is $20 in advance or $25 at the door, which includes samples and recipes. A 20 percent discount will be applied to the purchase of “The Karma Chow Ultimate Cookbook,” with pre-registration atwww.yogasoup.com. For more information, see www.karmachow.com.

Annual Flower Tour is Saturday in Carp

The Santa Barbara County Flower & Nursery Growers’ Association is hosting the fifth annual Carpinteria Greenhouse and Nursery Tour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 13. Admission is free.

Organizers said the tour is an opportunity for the public to meet South Coast farmers and to see how Santa Barbara County’s flowers contribute a $770.7 million economic impact to the region. Carpinteria is recognized as the nation’s “Flower Basket.”

The South Coast provides more than half of the value of flowers grown in California. The Golden State produces approximately 75 percent of all flowers grown in the United States.

The public is invited to attend free, farmer-guided tours of seven flower farms in the Carpinteria Valley. Among the flowers to be showcased are roses, gerberas, chrysanthemums orchids and other flowers.

Farmers will demonstrate sustainable growing and harvesting practices. Participating growers include: Ever- Bloom, Myriad Flowers, Westland Floral, Farmers’ West Flowers and Bouquets, Pianta Bella Nursery, Ocean Breeze and Westerlay Orchids.

Special features of the tour also include a floral arranging demonstration and book signing by “slow flower” advocate and author Debra Prinzing, a presentation by Koppert Biologicals about insects that are beneficial to flowers and plants, the opportunity to buy fresh flowers, the Carpinteria Art Show and a fundraiser barbecue lunch to benefit Future Farmers of America.

Today 85 percent of consumers have no idea where the flowers they buy are grown,” said Kasey Cronquist, CEO and ambassador of the California Cut Flower Commission. “These local farms face steep competition from imports. Tours like these help consumers recognize that their increasing interest in sourcing and buying local is not lost on the flowers they are buying. Origin matters for flowers, too.”

Westmont Hosts Stress-Reducing Entrepreneur

Jason Womack, small business entrepreneur and adviser, will share four ways to reduce stress and be more productive in a free, public lecture, “L.E.A.P. into Your Future,” Monday, April 22, at 3:30 p.m. April 22 in Westmont’s Founders Room in Montecito.

Womack, CEO and founder of the Jason Womack Co., has worked with business and education leaders and executives for more than 16 years. He focuses on creating ideas and starting solutions that are valuable to organizations its individuals.

Jason brings passion, energy and excitement to his presentations,” said Joe Bruzzese, adjunct professor of education at Westmont. “Having worked with people across both business and education industries, his ideas and strategies have proven to be highly successful in minimizing stress and maximizing happiness. I can’t imagine a more relevant speaker to bring to the students at Westmont.”

Womack, who earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from UCSB and a master’s in psychology from the University of Santa Monica, has written a book, “Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More.” He coaches executives in the psychology of productivity, including leadership, time management, personal organization and effective communication. He has worked for clients throughout the world.