Ventura Journal

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We created this site to provide coverage of business news in Western Ventura County, and now we need to find people who want to turn it into a real publication. If you want to help start a business and like reporting on local news, contact us at newsroom@vtajournal.com.

Ventura Journal’s Guide for small businesses relief grants

For small businesses and restaurants within the Ventura County area, the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program, Restaurant Revitalization Fund and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant are now accepting new applications.California Small Business...

Dignity Health St. John’s Regional Medical Center Named Among America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care

St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC), a member of Dignity Health, is one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care™ and Coronary Intervention™, according to new research released by Healthgrades, the leading resource...

Fry’s Closes All Stores, Including Oxnard

Fry's Electronics, a chain of low cost electronics based in California, abruptly closed all of its remaining stores. Their store on East Ventura Boulevard in Oxnard, which has been open for many years (this...

Empty Stores Continue to Increase at La Cumbre Plaza

More than a third of the stores at La Cumbre Plaza on upper State Street remain empty, as the pandemic has worsened the economic environment for retail stores. Of the forty-four stores in the main part of the shopping center, sixteen remain empty. The worsening conditions for Santa Barbara's largest...

Santa Barbara Office Conversions Increase

The former Macy's building (now called the Ortega Building, as it takes of most of the first block of West Ortega Street), is being repurposed as Class A office space. The building is undergoing a total makeover, and the new owners hope to find...

Local Cannabis Industry Grows

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Making magic at Ventura’s Bank of Italy Cocktail Trust

Misty Orman and Brandon Ristaino are putting the “Italy” back into their new bar, the Bank of Italy Cocktail Trust. The bar is located in the heart of downtown Ventura and first opened up its doors back in March....

Timbre Books to host first Indie Bookstore Day

Timbre Books in midtown Ventura is hosting it’s very first Indie Bookstore Day this Saturday, April 24th. The retailer, which opened in October of last year, is celebrating the event with some limited-edition merchandise, free prints with each purchase,...

Santa Barbara County Avocado Farmers Lead Nation

Local tech startup targets dental care

Pearly's founders were looking for a new problem to address after leaving the company that acquired their first start-up company, AgePath, when they realized dental care was being ignored by health care tech companies. Too many people ignore their teeth, often because they don't...

Jeannine’s Closes Downtown Restaurant

Jeannine's, a popular casual cafe/ restaurant that has been in the Santa Barbara area for over three decades, closed its downtown location on East Figueroa Street. That location, along with the Upper State Street and Goleta restaurants, have been closed due to the Covid...

La Cumbre Plaza Loses GameStop, Adds Wingstop

Fast food chicken chain WingStop has announced it will be opening a restaurant in La Cumbre Plaza soon. The chain, with over 1,500 locations, plans to open its first Santa Barbara area restaurant in the annex building across the parking lot from the main...

California Announces Four Rounds of Funding For Small Businesses

California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA), part of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), announced today, March 3, four new funding rounds for the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief...

Santa Barbara Pledges to Protect Essential Workers

As COVID-19 cases rise in California, Santa Barbara city leaders have voted to expand protection for essential workers, including farm workers and grocery store employees. The health and economic threats of COVID-19 remain, but...

Newsom orders statewide shutdown of indoor activities at bars, restaurants, other businesses

(The Center Square) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all indoor operations statewide to shut down for restaurants, bars, wineries, theaters, zoos, museums and cardrooms as the number of new coronavirus cases continued to...

Fish Enterprise Restaurant to be Converted Into Offices

The Enterprise Fish Company, a long time seafood restaurant at 225 State Street in Santa Barbara that was shuttered by the pandemic, has been sold to new owners who plan to convert the building into office space. Lorem ipsum dolor...

New Restaurant Coming to Amazon Building

When Amazon leased the former Saks Fifth Avenue building on the corner of State and Carrillo, it reserved the space fronting State Street for a future restaurant that would be open to the public. Now, a new restaurant appears...

Planning Commission Seeks Input Via Survey

This year the Goleta Planning Commission will review their Comprehensive Plan, which dictates what ordinances they will be allowed to grant for the next ten years. In order to receive more community input, the board sent out a survey...

FLIR Systems to be Acquired by Teledyne Technologies

Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY) (“Teledyne”) and FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLIR) (“FLIR”) jointly announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Teledyne will acquire FLIR in a cash and stock transaction...

Transact launches free publishing system

Transact has launched The Daily Local, a publishing system for local news that is offered for free to new and existing publishers.The Daily Local is designed to embrace a new business model, one that...

Re-start Loans Available for Goleta Businesses

Goleta-based businesses are encouraged to apply for ReStart Loans up $25,000 each to provide support during the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Goleta contributed $200,000 to support the small business loan program administered by Women's Economic Venture (WEV). Goleta ReStart...

Goleta Launches On-Line Site for Permits & Licenses

For the first time ever, you can now apply for and track permits and licenses online using the City of Goleta’s new Magnet Permit Tracking System Public Portal. The City launched the new user-friendly, intuitive Public Portal today, March...

Pre-approval From City Now Required for Parklets

The Santa Barbara City Council extended the Emergency Economic Recovery Ordinance until March 8, 2022. The ordinance continues the temporary closure of certain streets, on-street parking, and public parking to allow outdoor dining and outdoor business uses in the...

City Tax Revenues Decline

The City of Santa Barbara received $5.6 million in sales tax revenue during the quarter ended December 31, 2020, which is 12.6% below the same quarter last year. This decline is largely a result of reduced economic activity due...

Unemployment in Santa Barbara County Continues to Decline

According to the Federal Reserve, the unemployment rate 9not seasonally adjusted) for Santa Barbara County dropped to 5.8% as of early November 2020. However, this was just before the number of Covid cases in the area spiked after the...

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