The United Way of San Luis Obispo County Youth Board has awarded three $1,000 grants to local youth projects and programs.

The grants were awarded to:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of SLO County, for improvement of their school based program. Elementary aged “Littles” from Nipomo Elementary School are matched with mentors of high school or college age, called “Bigs”. The grant will be used to increase participation and purchase equipment for the program.
• The 8th grade AVID class from Flamson Middle School AVID class received a grant for the “No Place For Hate” week. This event promotes tolerance, peace and acceptance through a variety of school-wide activities and an awareness campaign. The grant will be used to purchase materials for a mural in Victory Alley, host a Mix It Up dance with music from varying cultures and games promoting tolerance, and to provide students with rubber bracelets that say “FMS - No Place For Hate” as a daily reminder for students to get along.
• Two 6th grade students from the SLO County YMCA Healthy Kids Club who created a Traveling Library for after school programs. The grant funds will be used to purchase 100 books for the library. Older participants of the program will be encouraged to mentor younger students to improve reading skill and increase the enjoyment of books.

Once again the City of San Luis Obispo’s Natural Resources Protection Program has teamed up with The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County to create Froom Ranch Open Space; a 310 acre property that offers new recreational opportunities and wildlife viewing among dense chaparral, oak woodlands and open grasslands.

Adjacent to the existing Irish Hills Reserve, the successful conservation of Froom Ranch will expand the Reserve to over 1,000 acres and allow for a series of new recreation trails and linkages. 

Valentina Inn & Villas, Pismo's newest property located in the heart of downtown Pismo Beach, will celebrate its first anniversary on Friday.

The charming hotel also just announced the upcoming addition of a wine bar on the Valentina ground floor, where Tastes of the Valleys Wine Bar in Solvang will open its latest location. Services include wine by the glass, several wine flights and tastings accompanied by small plates and a selection of cheeses. The anticipated opening is approximately May 1.

Longtime business partners Jeff Buckingham and Cheryl Lovell are proud to announce the launch of Blue Rooster Telecom, a brand new San Luis Obispo business telecom company, ready to provide service now.

Offering traditional local and long distance phone service, plus Internet, private networks and more to local businesses, Blue Rooster is the latest venture from these two long-established and well-respected names in the industry and the community.

"We are not your typical telecom provider," Buckingham said. "So we wanted our name to be unique. Blue Rooster has a great ring to it. It’s different … like we are. And it's fun. Kind of grows on you, doesn’t it?"

Buckingham, president of Blue Rooster, began his career in 1983 at Call America, one of the first competitive long distance carriers on the Central Coast. Buckingham guided Call America through the 1980s, and positioned it as the first commercial Internet service provider in the area during the ‘90s.

The San Luis Obispo Symphony's exhaustive search has culminated in the appointment of Brian Hermanson as its executive director. An innovative and dynamic leader in arts and education, Hermanson most recently served for four years as executive director for the Cobb Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The SLO Symphony's 10-member Executive Search Committee conducted a months-long process facilitate by the firm of Doug Patti, LLC, Orchestra Consulting to find the right person for the job. 

A trained musician, performing and recording artist, Hermanson received his BM in clarinet performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and earned Eastman’s highest honor, a Performer’s Certificate.

He has served as an advisor for Kennesaw State University’s School of Music, on the advisory board for a charter music school in the city of Marietta, on the advisory board of The Georgian Club, and as a community representative for Eagle Scout Board of Reviews. He is also an active member of Optimists International. At just 29 years old, Hermanson is the youngest Executive Director the SLO Symphony has hired to date. 

Hermanson founded and served as executive director for the Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra, and was a founding force for the Cerulean Wind Quintet, which was recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts for it's progressive work in musical enrichment for underprivileged children. He directed After-School Programs for a first-ward charter music school in Houston Texas where he helped win Oprah Winfrey’s Wildest Dreams Competition.

Goodwill Industries celebrated the opening of its Business and Career One Stop Center with a ribbon cutting presented by the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce on March 26.

Shoreline Workforce Development Services is the education, training and employment division of Goodwill Industries, and provides workforce development services designed to assist people with barriers to employment as they maximize the use of their abilities in the competitive labor market.

The new Business and Career One Stop center is located at Goodwill Industries at 880 Industrial Way in San Luis Obispo.

Clarence Cabreros has joined Heritage Oaks Bank as a senior vice president and the Santa Maria Commercial Lending Group manager.

Cabreros is responsible for coordinating and supervising all commercial lending activities in the Santa Maria area.  He will also be responsible for growing and managing a loan portfolio and will oversee all business unit functions relative to profitability, minimizing credit risk, and improving efficiency in line with the bank's strategic objectives. Cabreros will be headquartered at our South Broadway office in Santa Maria.

"We are thrilled to announce that Clarence Cabreros has joined Heritage Oaks Bank, your Santa Maria community bank, as Senior Vice President and the Santa Maria Commercial Lending Group Manager," says Joanne Funari, Executive Vice President for Heritage Oaks Bank.

The results from a recent survey suggest that San Luis Obispo residents overwhelmingly support bringing the Google fiber optic trial to SLO.

Of the 844 people polled, 98% said they would still support the project even if they would be personally impacted by the under-grounding or construction process. And 94% said having high-speed Internet services is very important to them.

The world’s most advanced digital printing press is now operating in San Luis Obispo and is the only one on the greater Central Coast, according to San Luis Print and Copy.

San Luis Print and Copy purchased the Xerox iGEN4 110 Digital Press in March. This device provides offset printing press quality, but is much faster with on-demand capability, is more cost effective and is the most eco-friendly printing press available.

The Xerox iGEN4 110 is the most eco-friendly printer available. It replaces the oil-based inks and solvents used by offset printers with non-toxic toner.

"A Xerox representative told me I could eat the toner, it’s that eco-friendly" said Jim Killian, President of San Luis Print and Copy. The on-demand capability also minimizes paper waste and electricity use.