SanLuisObispo.com: Business

8,000 in SLO County were jobless in June

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:08 PDT

San Luis Obispo County’s unemployment rate was 5.6 percent, or 8,000 people, in June, according to preliminary data from the state’s Employment Development Department.

That’s up from 5.2 percent in May and 4.3 percent in June 2007.

But it’s still less than the statewide jobless rate for June, which reached 6.9 percent — its highest level in nearly five years—as more job losses in construction and manufacturing hammered the economy, state officials said Friday.

Biz Buzz: Heritage group to review green building project in SLO

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:07 PDT

Plans for the Gateway Building, a proposed mixed-use development at Marsh and Nipomo streets in San Luis Obispo, is set to go before the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission this month.

Owner and developer Jules Rogoff of San Luis Obispo has already brought his project before the city’s Architectural Review Commission.

It is set to go back to that board in

Wine Notes: Young Paso vintner owes much to his mentor, Dad

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:41 PDT

When winemaker Brian Benson is dining at a local restaurant and pulls out a bottle of his own syrah or grenache from Brian Benson Cellars, he often gets something other wine-makers rarely do: He gets carded.

That’s because even though Benson is approaching the eighth vintage of his small Paso Robles winery, he is still only 25 years old.

Benson started making wine while many other kids were skateboarding and playing video games.

Biz Buzz: Broad and South streets project changes developers

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:55 PDT

A new Southern California developer has taken over the plans for the Village at Broad, a large, mixed-used project proposed near Broad and South streets in San Luis Obispo.

A year and a half ago, Pasadena-based Jim Halferty and Dick Debeikes of Irvine had developed plans for a $27 million project on the 5-acre parcel between Rabobank and Fire Station No. 1. But after a perceived softening of the market, their plans stalled, and they put the property up for sale for $7.5 million.

The project, now in the hands of Woodland Hills developer Rick Moses, has been slightly reconfigured. It now has 34,000 square feet of retail and 70 apartments, in different clusters and size configurations.

Biz Buzz: Accounting partners splinter off to form new firms

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:23 PDT

Three Central Coast partners of Barbich Longcrier Hooper and King — one of the largest accounting companies serving San Luis Obispo County—have split off to establish their own independent accounting firms.

Wayne Longcrier, Gary Jensen and Eric Schwefler, who made the split official June 30, will each maintain their own clients and 35 of the 40 employees formerly with Barbich Longcrier Hooper and King.

“It wasn’t an easy decision for us to reorganize, but it was time to simplify my life,” said Longcrier, who founded the company with Lew Barbich in Bakersfield in 1982, and then helped establish a company branch in San Luis Obispo in 1990. “It’s more difficult over time to operate a service business that is 120 miles apart and keep everyone moving in the same direction.”

Biz Buzz: New Paso market to focus on Hispanics

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:01 PDT

A new, 4,200-square-foot retail and convenience store targeted toward the Hispanic population is set to open in September in Paso Robles.

The business, called La Chiquita Market y Carniceria, will be at 532 N. 24th St., one block off Spring Street and across from Flamson Middle School. It will provide fresh meats, soft drinks, dry goods, ice, beer and wine, as well as hot food for lunch, said its owner, Gary Pederson.

Pederson believes targeting his store to Hispanics makes sense because nearly one-third of the North County’s population is Hispanic. Yet only one other such Hispanic-oriented market exists in the county, on Creston Road, in east Paso Robles, Pederson said.

Central Coast Tech: Share software ideas at local code camp

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:58 PDT

P lanning for the second annual Central Coast Code Camp is under way.

The code camp is a free event open to anyone interested in sharing software development ideas, philosophies and code.

More than 100 attendees heard from nearly 20 presenters at last year’s inaugural event.

Biz Buzz: Little wooden bungalow in SLO to be replaced with foam and steel

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:03 PDT

A little wooden bungalow near the Broad Street and Orcutt Road intersection in San Luis Obispo is set to be replaced by two contemporary-style structures—built primarily out of hard plastic foam.

One building, closest to Broad Street, will have 4,000 square feet of commercial space. Eight attached two-story, one-bedroom apartments are proposed just behind it.

The project at 3229 Broad St. — south of the Crossroads Center retail, office and restaurant complex—was recently approved by the city Planning Commission. Construction is set to begin this fall, and it will be open by May, architect Warren Hamrick of Hamrick Associates said.

Business Week Ahead

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:39 PDT

TUESDAY

Business Network International. 7 a. m. Every Tuesday. F. McLintocks Saloon, 1234 Park St., Paso Robles. Contact Jeff of J. Railsback Insurance Agency at 238-4333.

Job Search Strategies. 9:15 to 10:45 a. m. Business and Career One-Stop Center, 2800 Buena Vista Drive, Building 4000, Paso Robles. 237-3014 or 237-3015. Free.

Owner looks for the right people to buy Paso winery

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:02 PDT

Name: Jim Caudill Position: spokesman Business: Five Rivers Winery

What he said then: When The Tribune interviewed Jim Caudill in spring 2007, Brown-Forman Corp., owner of Five Rivers Winery, had decided to sell the Paso Robles winery and 630 acres of vineyards.

Based in Louisville, Ky., Brown-Forman’s other holdings include a variety of spirits and wines such as Jack Daniels and Fetzer Vineyards.

Local businesses thrive on students

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:55 PDT

With San Luis Obispo County’s isolated labor pool, many local businesses — particularly in areas surrounding Cal Poly and Cuesta College—rely heavily on part-time employees.

“The students make up an incredibly important transient labor pool,” said Tunny Ortali, co-owner of F. McLintocks Saloon&Dining House, the business that owns steak houses under that name. “Take a walk downtown one day. Walk into stores and see who is working in them.”

The local restaurant chain employs a seasonal average of 273 workers at its five county locations.

Biz Buzz: SLO temple earns green designation

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:07 PDT

San Luis Obispo’s Congregation Beth David recently received LEED certification for its new temple, making it the first new construction commercial building project in the county to earn the designation by the U. S. Green Building Council, said Judith Webb, the nonprofit organization’s spokeswoman.

The Washington, D. C.-based group formulated the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) point-based system to identify buildings that meet certain environmental standards.

The Tribune reported Thursday that the new Cal Poly Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house under development in San Luis Obispo is on track to become the first with the new construction certification. That project will not be finished until next year, however.

Western-style building rising in heart of business corridor

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:07 PDT

An 8,300-square-foot commercial development that broke ground in March in the heart of Templeton’s business corridor is now being framed.

The estimated $4 million project, owned by locals Wayne and Sheila Virgin and Western Heritage Enterprises, has 12 units varying in size from 485 square feet to 900 square feet.

Each space has the ability to combine into a larger unit.

Biz Buzz: Historic Paso Robles winery up for sale again

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:32 PDT

A historic property touted as the county’s “oldest continuously operated winery” is on the market with a price tag of $4.25 million.

In 2001, when the owners of Martin&Weyrich Winery bought York Mountain Winery, they planned to fix up the property settled by Andrew York in 1882.

With retrofitting and vineyard plans still in hand, the Paso Robles winery has decided to sell York Mountain

Brothers’ newfound motto: Less stress, more wine

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:17 PDT

Daniel Daou and his brother Georges don’t want to make just good wine from their newly planted Westside Vineyard—they seek to bottle “world renowned wines.” “We’ve never had modest goals,” Daniel admits.

The Lebanese-born brothers who were raised in Paris immigrated to the United States with their parents in the late 1970s. After graduating with electrical and computer engineering degrees from UC San Diego in 1988, they set off to establish their own Internet company with $50,000 borrowed from their father.

Nine years later Daou Systems grew to more than $120 million in sales and 1,000 employees. They took the company public in 1997, and it was one of the most successful initial public offerings on Wall Street that year.

Biz Buzz: Cal Poly fraternity leads city in green building efforts

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:43 PDT

The new Cal Poly Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house under development in San Luis Obispo is on track to become the first LEED-New Construction building in the city and one of eight projects attempting to achieve LEED certification in San Luis Obispo County, according to Jim Duffy, project architect for RRM Design Group, the project’s architectural firm. This certification is earned by buildings that meet certain environmental standards.

The fraternity house was approved last April. Construction is set to begin a year from now and to be completed by September 2010.

Plans for the three-story, 8,830- square-foot building include 16 bedrooms, an apartment for fraternity house parents and a library. The building will take advantage of southern daylight exposure, passive solar heating and natural ventilation. Other sustainable design features include solar panels, pervious pavers to minimize runoff and drought-tolerant landscaping.

Biz Buzz: $3 million Mediterranean-style medical center planned for Pismo Beach

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:24 PDT

Pismo Beach

A new $3 million, Mediterranean-style medical office center is slated to break ground this fall in Pismo Beach.

The two-story, 25,395-square-foot building, developed by Gary Grossman’s Inland Pacific Builders and designed by Leonard Grant Architecture, will be at James Way and Highland Drive. Its design includes the conscious integration of the structure into its natural surroundings with an indoor/outdoor courtyard and a public access pedestrian trail to an adjacent nature preserve, said architect Leonard Grant.

Biz Buzz: Estate Financial leaders file for bankruptcy, then resign

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:22 PDT

About a week after investors and developers forced Paso Robles lender Estate Financial Inc. into an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, the firm’s leaders resigned after voluntarily putting its separate mortgage fund into bankruptcy protection.

M. Freddie Reiss, a Los Angelesbased senior managing director of global business advisory company FTI, and an expert in restructuring companies, has been named the new chief executive.

David Gould, a Calabasas bankruptcy attorney and former state deputy attorney general, is the new manager of the mortgage fund, said Bill Beall, a Santa Barbara attorney and adviser to the firm.

New local businesses

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:12 PDT

Name: Wilbur and Patricia McKinney

Doing business as: Precision Clean

Address: 697 Croyden Lane, Cambria

Local commercial bankruptcies

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:12 PDT

Case: 9:08-bk-11341-RR

Chapter: 7

Name: Mark Marrufo