San Luis Obispo visitors and locals can now find visitor information including restaurants and hotel accommodations any time of the day or night.  

A new, customized touch-screen kiosk is now accessible just outside of the Visitors Center and downstairs from the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce. This user-friendly kiosk is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and features listings for local restaurants and lodging as well as provides information about events and things to do in and around San Luis Obispo.

“With all of the good press San Luis Obispo has been getting lately, we realized it was important to provide visitors and tourists with tourism information even when the Visitors Center is closed,” said Lindsey Miller, the Chamber’s director of marketing. “So far, the kiosk has been a big hit with both locals and visitors.”

In his last days at the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, David Garth seems more relaxed than ever before. There is a happy pep in his step, even with his left leg bound up in a heavy cast (his foot broke when he slipped on ice at his vacation home in Shaver Lake, Calif. earlier this spring).

Garth, who will retire as Chamber president/CEO on July 1, recently reflected on his 39-year chamber career, speaking about his favorite memories, the keys to success in the chamber industry, and some of his biggest disappointments.

“I’m very optimistic about the Chamber’s future,” Garth said. “But threats to business are stronger than ever. Businesses need to band together, because the need to be represented is greater than ever. People need to see this time not just as a recession – to some degree, it’s the new normal. We know economic development is critical to our success, and the Chamber will take a bigger role than we’ve taken on that issue.”

KSBY has hired Doug Barden to join the KSBY team as its new news director effective July 11. KSBY News Director Dave Schermer announced his plans to step down back in April.

Barden is currently the news director in Bakersfield at KBAK/KBFX TV, a position he has held since December 2008. He helped the news station achieve a No. 1 ranking in all key demographics in evening newscast, a feat for the station that had never been reached before.

Prior to that gig, he worked at KSTU in Salt Lake City, Utah, KRNV in Reno, Nev. and KGWN in Cheyenne, Wyo. Barden got his start in the business as journalist before making the transition into news management.

The local economy seems to be on the upswing as vacant downtown San Luis Obispo buildings continue to fill their empty spaces.

Here are just a few businesses coming to the downtown: Luna Rustica, a local home furnishings store, is moving from its Broad Street location to the space formerly occupied by Ann’s clothing store at 895 Monterey St.; Renaissance Salon and Boutique will soon open in The Network shopping center at 778 Higuera St.; Raku, a Japanese restaurant, plans to open in the fall in the space previously occupied by Muzio’s Deli at 857 Higuera St.; and Kreuzberg California, a European-style coffee house on Monterey Street, plans to take over the space occupied by the Golden China Restaurant at 685 Higuera St. in early August.

A grassroots effort to restore fiscal sustainability to local government is underway in San Luis Obispo. Citizens for SLO, a group comprised of San Luis Obispo community members, has begun a campaign to repeal binding arbitration and allow City Council to make changes to pensions.

Members of this group have all joined the fight against powerful public safety unions to ensure the future of San Luis Obispo remains vital. The group now has three co-chairs: Lauren Brown, a retired biotechnology entrepreneur and founder of JBL Scientific (now Promega Biosciences); John Ewan, a former San Luis Obispo City Council Member and local business owner; and April Strong, a local physical therapist.

“We believe in fair pay for city employees, but mandatory binding arbitration and the language in the city’s charter regarding pensions are fundamentally inflationary and flawed. Local taxpayers simply can’t afford to keep the current City Charter provisions in place,” Brown said. “We need to put local control back into the hands of local people.”

The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce’s Mixer Showcase was a huge hit that drew an estimated 6,000 people last week, the largest crowd ever. The trade show usually attracts about 5,000 people each year.

“We haven’t seen that many people at an event in probably three or four years,” said Clint Pearce, vice president at Madonna Enterprises. For the first time in its 19-year run, the Mixer Showcase was moved to the Alex Madonna Expo Center where it allowed for a more traditional trade show layout and more exhibitor space and parking.

“There seemed to be such a huge participation not only with the vendors but also with many members of the community,” Pearce said. “It was a great way for the Chamber community to come together en masse.”

Rosetta Marketing Group, which late last year bought SLO’s Level Studios, has itself just been purchased by Publicis Groupe of France for $575 million. Rublicis is a $7.4 billion communications and advertising juggernaut that spans multiple media, including Internet, television and print.

Rosetta’s meteoric growth in the last six years – from $40 million in revenue and 40 employees to $250 million and 1,100 employees – had attracted the attention of several potential buyers.

Mike Boswell, currently a member and formerly chair of the SLO Planning Commission, has resigned, effective immediately. Boswell, whose day job is as a planner for San Luis Obispo County, served for a total of nine years.

The Planning Commission has a tremendous influence on how the community develops. The business perspective has been under-represented on the commission for the last few years because most of the commissioners have been professional planners; a business person with an interest in planning could provide some needed balance.

Act fast if you’re interested.