More than just a  popular tourist destination, Santa Barbara is a thriving center for young and developing businesses, notes Kenny Slaught. Dozens of promising, new startups have been founded in recent years, and many, including AppScale, LastLine, TrackR, and Salty Girl Seafood, have formed out of the University of California Santa Barbara. In the last year, over $200 million has been raised for area startups from private investors, and the Central Coast now boasts nearly twice the investment per capita in innovation than the LA metropolitan area, a significantly larger market. The tempting pull of Silicon Valley or Hollywood is not far off, but local entrepreneurs are recognizing the significance of building a business in a pro-growth environment. As a result, Santa Barbara is one of the best places in the country to launch and cultivate a startup, and has spawned remarkable biotech, medical, technology, and scientific businesses including Inogen, Raytheon, Sonos, and BioIQ.

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Some factors influencing the current homebuying situation are particularly Californian in nature and can be traced back to a general scarcity of land in desirable locations. Undeveloped land costs are prohibitively high, particularly within the Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas. Kenny Slaught points to regular delays in new construction, which results in many owners opting to stay put and renovate, because Proposition 13, the 1978 amendment to the state’s constitution, has made upgrading a daunting choice. Although the law states that future property tax increases must be capped at 2% based on 1975 assessments, the exorbitant exception takes place when a sale happens, and a property is reassessed based on current sale price. In the end, yearly totals are decided by purchase figures that vary monthly, as demand in California shifts seasonally (with most homes sold in June and a small push at year’s end). Yearly totals are also affecting asking prices, interest rates, consumer confidence, quantity and quality of homebuyer jobs, disposable income, saving rates, and elements like major foreign investments, and negative equity status.

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Another field that offers great opportunities at competitive salaries is the service and hospitality industry, which also gives graduates the chance to perfect their crafts and pursue their goals of becoming a great chef, manager, or hotel administrator. At SBCC, the Culinary Arts and Hotel Management program is diverse and touches up on many different aspects of the service industry of all different sizes. Learning skills like these can help graduates find jobs not only locally, but relocate practically anywhere else in the world. Another interesting aspect of the program, notes Kenny Slaught, is that “It can prepare students to start their own businesses and fulfill their dream of becoming a business owner and working for themselves.”

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Kenny Slaught recognizes that both individuals facing death and their loved ones have to deal with anticipatory grief as the unavoidable draws near. He notes an unmatched level of professionalism and compassion that the dedicated staff of Hospice of Santa Barbara has demonstrated to help loved ones and those with terminal illnesses confront and deal with this grief in constructive ways so that they can enjoy their final days together with minimal stress and anxiety. Facing this grief directly can improve communication between loved ones and lay the foundation for saying what needs to be said and achieving a sense of closure, which can ease the grieving process after the loss occurs.

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Kenny Slaught has endorsed Hospice of Santa Barbara for maintaining a proactive presence on local school campuses, from elementary school to college. Volunteers visit these facilities to organize weekly support groups for students who have experienced or are dealing with traumatic or complex situations and require a safe place in which to discuss their thoughts and feelings. On-campus services aim to create supportive atmospheres that encourage self-reflection and teach critical coping skills. These coping skills can help adolescents say no to drugs and alcohol, as well as other forms of self-medication. In addition to working directly with the youth, the hospice volunteers provide training to faculty and staff on how to interact with students who are dealing with trauma and how to handle student questions about death, especially violent deaths and suicide. All 65 schools in the Hospice of Santa Barbara network can call on the volunteers around the clock to respond quickly and effectively to a traumatic situation.

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