Spotlight

In addition to showcasing vendors of baby-related merchandise, this year’s event will feature a “Funny Baby Photo Contest” in which the top three winners will take home prizes. It will also feature a contest with a $1,000 gift card grand prize. The Fairpark is located at 937 S. Thornburg St. in Santa Maria. For more […]

The state of Vandenberg Air Force Base will be the topic of a joint luncheon by the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce and Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 14. The event’s guest speaker will be Col. Richard Boltz, commander of the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg. Boltz will provide a review of […]

Community Bank of Santa Maria received four stars in the most recent Star Ratings report issued by BauerFinancial, Inc., an independent firm that reports on the financial condition of the nation’s bank and credit unions. Bauer categorized CBSM as “excellent” using the company’s five-star rating system. It was the highest rating of any bank based […]

American Perspective Bank in Santa Maria is now offering a mobile banking service, allowing customers to check their balances, transfer funds, and view recent transactions using their smartphones. Bank customers can enroll in the program through the bank’s online system, and must activate the system by signing a form in the branch office. Once enrolled, […]

The Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation awarded Transitions-Mental Health Association with a $20,000 grant to help support Growing Grounds Farm in Santa Maria. The Foundation has funded the Farm each year since 2007. The grant will go toward growing food, paying worker’s wages, and distributing vegetable seedlings and herb plants to low-income neighborhoods. Transitions-Mental Health Association […]

The Buellton Chamber of Commerce will honor businesses certified as “green” by the Green Business Program of Santa Barbara County (GBPSBC) during 2010 at a luncheon on Feb. 9. Mark Heintz, corporate responsibility and sustainability director for Deckers Outdoor Corporation, will serve as the event’s keynote speaker. The luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. […]

Salinas-based public relations firm Paramount Communications is launching a Political Action Committee (PAC) in Santa Barbara County to raise money for Republican and other fiscally conservative, pro-business candidates for public office.  The PAC—the Central Coast Local Leadership Fund—is currently recruiting a Board of Advisors. The Convere Group, LLC, a communications and development firm in Silicon […]

The McCune Foundation on Dec. 20 announced the award of more than $360,000 in grant money for community organizing and social justice initiatives in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The group made a total of 15 grants to support organizing efforts by farm workers, renters, parents, youth, and others seeking to improve their lives and […]

After 14 weeks of training, Women’s Economic Ventures graduated 20 Northern Santa Barbara County residents from its flagship Self-Employment Training Course (SET) at a Dec. 15 ceremony in Santa Barbara. Of the 114 total graduates, 11 hailed from the Santa Maria Spanish SET course. Startup businesses from the course included “Grandma’s Tamales,” owned by Susana […]

As any successful business owner knows, communication and presentation skills are essential tools to making a business productive. The Barnes Institute of Management Productivity and Research Center for Strategic Management would like to help managers, employees, community leaders, and job seekers improve those important skills with a free introductory Speech Communication and Skills Course in […]

To make sure good boys and girls get what they want for the holidays, Santa Claus has partnered with the elves at Advantage Answering Plus in providing a direct telephone number to the North Pole. All children are invited to leave Good Old Saint Nick a personal voicemail message by calling 546-1121 until Dec. 26. […]

Cable television provider Comcast is switching over more channels to digital signals in Northern Santa Barbara County, requiring some customers to add new equipment. Expanded-basic cable subscribers in Santa Maria, Orcutt, Lompoc, and the Santa Ynez Valley who don’t have set-top cable boxes will need to add digital boxes by mid-February. Comcast will provide those […]