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.

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.

Tourism is on the rise as San Luis Obispo gains more attention as a tourism destination. The city’s transient occupancy tax (TOT) revenues for March 2011 are up by 1.5 percent from the same month last year and up 8.4 percent year to date. And tourism related online services are starting to take notice.

Insiders say that Urbanspoon, a popular interactive restaurant information service similar to Yelp, will soon expand a section dedicated to San Luis Obispo. Urbanspoon currently features restaurants in about 210 California cities, including Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

A local business leader with extensive experience helping businesses thrive has been named president and chief executive officer for the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce.

Ermina Karim, the current vice president of governmental affairs and economic development for the 1,400-member Chamber, was chosen from a national pool of 300-plus applicants to succeed Dave Garth as the Chamber’s top executive. Garth will retire on July 1.

A selection committee composed of the current chairperson of the Chamber Board of Directors and six former board chairs presented Karim’s name as the recommended choice at the Chamber board meeting Thursday morning. The board unanimously approved the action. The selection committee conducted 27 hours of intense interviews with finalists and almost 150 total hours of committee review and discussion.

Dave Schermer, news director at KSBY-TV, has told his staff of his decision to step down from the position he has held for nearly five years.

His plans, he said in an e-mail announcement, are to stay in San Luis Obispo to grow web-based businesses he’s been nurturing over the past several years.

This news comes just after Kathleen Choal started her new position as KSBY’s general manager on April 1. Schermer says he plans to stay on at KSBY for the next couple of months to ensure a smooth transition as the station recruits its next news director.

Pacifica Host Hotels purchased the Inn at Morro Bay from Wells Fargo Bank at the end of March after the local 98-room Inn fell into foreclosure last August.

The Inn faced nearly $14 million in debt and was purchased by Pacifica Host Hotels for roughly $9 million. Not to be confused with Santa Barbara-based Pacifica Hotel Company, Pacifica Host Hotels is a San Diego hotel management company that owns 34 hotels.

The Inn at Morro Bay was built in 1960, has about 70 employees and boasts a prime waterfront location on the Bay

Last night, the San Luis Obispo City Council added three new power players to its two marketing-related advisory bodies – the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) and the Promotional Coordinating Committee (PCC).

Hoteliers Nipool Patel of the Comfort Inn & Suites Lamplighter and Clint Pearce of the Madonna Inn were both confirmed for the TBID. Council confirmed Dave Cox, co-owner of Barnett Cox & Associates to the PCC. Cox’s firm successfully led the city’s advertising efforts for 16 years.