SPIRIT of Small buSIneSSJuLY 25-31, 2014 • VoLume 15, Issue 21

SM

Spirit of Small Business

Gold Partners:

Silver Partners:

2B Spirit of Small Business Awards Pacific Coast Business Times July 25-31, 2014

OUR ROOTS ARE HERE

OUR REACH

IS GLOBALWE REPRESENT MARRIOTT HOTELS, BREWERY OMMEGANG, FAMOUS BRANDS, MRS. FIELDS, TCBY, KEVITA, CONVERSE EYEWEAR AND OUR NEIGHBORS AT THE BANK OF SANTA BARBARA AND SANSUM DIABETES RESEARCH INSTITUTE. SANTA BARBARA • LOS ANGELES • WASHINGTON DC

WWW.BLAZEPR.COM

HOW ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS? HOW CAN WE HELP?

July 25-31, 2014 Spirit of Small Business Awards Pacific Coast Business Times 3B

From some very humble beginnings more than 14 years ago, Pacific Coast Business Times has endured, grown and become the dominant voice of business for the Central Coast of California.

And since its beginning 12 years ago, Spirit of Small Busi-ness has become an important part of that journey. As many of you know, we launched the Spirit program in 2003 in partnership with the Los Angeles District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

It has helped us recognize companies across the full extent of our geographic footprint. And Spirit has led to two successful spin-off event programs — our Family Business Awards held each year in March and our Latino Business Awards, celebrated on July 17.

Through all the years of Spirit of Small Business, we’ve developed a close connection with the L.A. Dis-trict Office, the nation’s No. 1 district for originating SBA-guaranteed financing. The Los Angeles district encom-passes Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and the success of our small businesses counts in no small measure to the numbers that have kept the L.A. district No. 1 in the United States. Several years ago, we added an award for San Luis Obispo County, which is part of the Fresno district, to our program.

During our 12 years, we’ve hosted a number of special guests including the late Fess Parker, then-SBA Adminis-trator Hector Barreto, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, ImpreMedia CEO Monica Lozano and Lynda.com co-founder Lynda Weinman. We’ve had support from U.S. Representative Lois Capps, a Santa Barbara Democrat, and former Congressman Elton Gallegly, a Simi Valley Repub-lican.

The Spirit of Small Business section you are reading is several publications wrapped into one:

• Profiles of this year’s award winners, including stories about rising up from adversity and providing timely insights into what makes a business successful in today’s economy.

• How-to articles designed to teach you how to start and

operate a business. This year, by invitation, we again have a special contribution from author and entrepreneur Jack Nadel.

• A resource guide loaded with contact information and sources to help start or build your business.

Our 12th annual search for nominations again yielded dozens of nominations for individual companies and with all of the nominees able to compete in more than one category, the total nominations were well in ex-cess of 100.

These nominations were judged on the basis of each company’s ability to survive in tough times, its history of creating jobs and consistent growth, and its contribution to the community.

In thinking about what constitutes a small business in our region, we looked mainly to companies with 100 or fewer employees. And we’ve held to a policy of

not having repeat winners. The Spirit of Small Business special report was produced

by Erika Martin, our special reports editor, and the cover was designed by Cory Pironti. The cover features Mark Steller, our North Santa Barbara County Business award winner.

Spirit of Small Business would not be possible without the support of our partners. Our gold partners are Heritage Oaks Bank, Economic Development Collaborative-Ventura County, Small Business Development Centers and American Red Cross. Our silver partners are Bank of America, Blaze, California Lutheran University, Community Bank, The Bank of Santa Barbara, Community West Bank, Cox, Lanspeed, Montecito Bank & Trust, Pacific Western Bank, Union Bank and Wells Fargo. Our green partner is Limoneira Co.

Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners of the 2014 Spirit of Small Business Awards. Join us at the Bacara Resort & Spa on Aug. 14 as we celebrate the Spirit of Small Business. For tickets and event information, please contact Jennifer Carusa at jcarusa@pacbiztimes.com.

• Contact Henry Dubroff at hdubroff@pacbiztimes.com.

A dozen years for Spirit of Small Business

6B eAsT VeNTuRA CouNTY Agnew Multilingual 8B WesT VeNTuRA CouNTY Staples Construction Co. 11B souTH sANTA BARBARA CouNTY The French Press 12B NoRTH sANTA BARBARA CouNTY Old Town Market 13B sAN LuIs oBIsPo CouNTY Wallace Group 15B mINoRITY-oWNeD BusINess Alliance Wealth Strategies 17B WomAN-oWNeD BusINess Ohana Pet Hospital

19B eXPoRTeR oF THe YeAR Zesto Audio 20B GReen buSIneSS AB Design Studio

23-26B smALL BusINess HoW-Tos

29-35B TRI-CouNTY ResouRCe GuIDe

Table of Contents

henrydubroff

Editor

C&D l lp

690 Alamo Pintado RdSolvang, CA 93463Tel 805.688.5505

info@cdllp.comwww.cdllp.com

From your perspective there’snothing small about your business.Every ounce of energy you havegoes into it. Making things work.We advise a lot of businesses andyou can be sure in our eyes no business is small. We’re experiencedand skilled in all financial complexi-ties; from launching start-ups toaccelerating growth. So, when it’stime to take your “small business”to the next level, come visit us.Right away you’ll see your businessis a big deal to us.

SMALL BUSINESS. NO SUCH THING. FARBER HASS HURLEY LLP

CPAs and Advisors to BusinessA PCAOB Registered Accounting Firm

THE PROFESSIONAL ADVANTAGE FOR YOUR COMPANY

888 W. VENTURA BLVD. STE. ACAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA 93010TELEPHONE: (805) 504-8410

Offi ces also in Valencia & Granada Hills

National Firm Experience with Local Attention

• Audits, Reviews and Compilations• Tax Returns and Research• International Issues• Mergers and Acquisitions

Celebrating 20 years of professional service!

4B Spirit of Small Business Awards Pacific Coast Business Times July 25-31, 2014

Ready 365 Giving Program

“The Red Cross stands ready to serve San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, 365 days a year. We hope you’ll join us.”

JIM McGEERegional Chief Executive

CENTRAL COAST REGION

At the Ready for the Central CoastThrough the Ready 365 Giving Program, you can help, too. When you join our corporate membership program, your company stands with the Red Cross as we provide lifesaving services. You are with us each day as we...

• Respond to disasters in our communities;

• Empower area residents and employees with lifesaving courses such as First Aid/ CPR, Water Safety and Babysitter’s Training;

• Assist military members, military family members and veterans in our community; and

• Collect life-giving, local blood.

Make your company a Ready 365 Giving Program member.Contact Andi Bankson, American Red Cross,Central Coast Region(805) 706-0423Andi.Bankson@redcross.org

Every day, the American Red Cross assists people who face emergencies.

deployed soldier get home for the birth of his son. We provide blood to the child battling cancer.

We have prevented and relieved suffering, one day at a time, for more than 130 years. In that time, we have served millions of people. They lived in small towns and big cities across the United States and around the world.

Wherever they were, they had one thing in common. They knew where to turn during moments of great need. They knew that—365 days a year— the American Red Cross was ready to help.

We secure food and lodging for the family struck by a home fire. We help a