Mike Bush has crisscrossed the world developing and operating botanical gardens, with posts in Santa Barbara, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Bermuda and Singapore. On May 23, Bush officially came home to California, where he is the newly named executive director of the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden.

Bush’s most recent assignment was at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, where he was responsible for construction and pre-opening operations of a $400 million horticulture conservatory that will open in phases beginning in November 2011.

He has held executive level positions at Santa Barbara’s Ganna Walska Lotusland, the Bermuda Department of Agriculture - Botanical Gardens, the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, North Carolina and Myriad (Botanical) Gardens in Oklahoma City. 

Do you know what to pay your employees? The Employment Development Department (EDD) and Census Bureau compensation numbers are based on larger geographic areas and often months or years behind.

The value of accurate compensation data for local business owners is extremely high. The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce is partnering again with the HR Association of the Central Coast to encourage local business owners to take the bi-annual salary and benefits survey.

The survey was previously conducted by the Private Industry Council (PIC), and has long been used as the best resource for accurate wage information.

“It was a nightmare to organize, but gratifying when we saw how the data was used," said retired PIC Executive Director Lee Ferrero. 

Local branding firm Barnett Cox & Associates (BCA) continues to win awards for the Sustainability Report designed and produced for Cal Poly.

The report had garnered a gold honor in the Central Coast competition ADDY Award competition, qualifying the project to advance to the district level of competition. BCA was recognized with a silver award from the district and was the only SLO County firm recognized in a competition that included advertising giants Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, LG Mobile and Toyota at that level.

The silver district award comes on the heels of the firm winning two gold and six bronze awards in March at the regional competition level.

San Luis Obispo was recently coined as one of the happiest places in America, but with the continued decline of home prices and increasing number of distressed sales, the San Luis Obispo housing market makes homeowners ask, “Are we the happiest place after all?”

Nearly 45 percent of closed sales in San Luis Obispo County over the past six months were distressed sales.  In the city of San Luis Obispo, 31 percent of closed sales were also some type of distressed sale. These types of sales continue to rise because sub-prime loans are still in effect.

Dawna Davies, owner and broker of Davies Company Real Estate, believes that distressed sales will continue to dominate the market for another year and a half minimum. 

Adi Ringer, owner of local financial and insurance services firm BridgePoint Custom Strategies, recently earned the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) designation from the Exit Planning Institute (EPI).

The CEPA® program was specifically designed for business advisers who work closely with owners of privately held companies. Using an executive MBA style format, the program is designed around a central case study and uses a combination of lectures, group discussions, case studies and individual exercises to introduce participants to concepts and to reinforce skills.

To earn the CEPA® credential, Ringer completed a rigorous five-day program that involved approximately 100 hours of pre-course study, 32 hours of classroom instruction, and successful completion of a 3.5 hour proctored examination. With this certification, Ringer joins an exclusive group of fewer than 150 business advisers worldwide. The Exit Planning Institute is the premier provider of learning, knowledge, and future-oriented research for exit planning professionals. The Institute delivers innovative learning experiences, performance-enhancing resources, and strategic tools designed to advance the exit planning profession.

French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC) recently announce that it has been honored, once again, by Avatar International with two prestigious awards for its Emergency Department Services.

The first award is the Avatar Five Star Service – Loyalty and Endorsement – Emergency Award for 2010. FHMC also received this honor in 2009. The Emergency Department Award is given to the hospital with the highest patient satisfaction score of Emergency Services in Avatar’s national database, which includes approximately 400 hospitals. FHMC is also being honored with the Exceeding Patient Expectations 2010 Award. The Exceeding Expectation award is given to facilities whose patients’ expectations of service and excellence are exceeded. FHMC has been honored with this award for 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and now 2010. 

“So much has been accomplished over the last several years with the real beneficiaries of this great success being the patients that we are privileged to care for," Alan Iftiniuk, FHMC president and CEO said. "These honors further substantiate the strength of our collective commitment to the principle of an unsurpassed patient care experience at FHMC.”  

Pismo Lighthouse Suites hosted a special-needs family, providing a home away from home during the construction and remodeling of their home as part of PolyHouse, a Cal Poly Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering project management class.  

For the past seven years, Cal Poly’s Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering project management class has led a cross-disciplinary team that renovated homes of local families or individuals struggling with issues related to disabilities.

This year, the PolyHouse team renovated the Shandon home of 15-year-old Jacob Slattery and his parents. Born with a severe form of spina bifida, Slattery is paralyzed from the mid-chest down and has been confined to a wheelchair since the age of two.

Mindbody, a leading provider of business management software, today announced an expanded partnership with Constant Contact®, Inc., the trusted marketing advisor to more than 450,000 small organizations worldwide.

The partnership will allow Mindbody business clients to strengthen their communication efforts through Constant Contact’s online marketing tools and services for growing their business.

“We first integrated with Constant Contact back in 2006 because we recognized the value that their robust online marketing program would bring to our business clients. All new Mindbody clients will now have Constant Contact’s Email Marketing services included as a part of their software subscription,” said Robert Murphy, co-founder and chief sales and marketing officer of Mindbody.

The arrangement provides new Mindbody clients who sign up on or after May 1 to send unlimited emails to up to 500 unique contacts.

Meze Wine Café & Market held its grand opening on May 20 with a ribbon cutting ceremony presented by the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce.

Meze (pronounced meh-zay) offers a menu of wines by the glass or bottle to enjoy with small plate dishes (meze) created from items available in the market including cheese, charcuterie, gourmet pantry goods, seasonal produce and ingredients.  

Meze Wine Café & Market is located at 1880 Santa Barbara St., Ste. 130 in San Luis Obispo, Calif. near the railroad station.

More information can be found at www.mezemarket.com.