Santa Barbara County Shares its Status at ‘State of the County’ Event

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) -  The State of the County 2026: Economic Summit is expected to shed some light on the challenges ahead for Santa Barbara County when top leaders gather at The Ritz-Carlton this afternoon.

It is hosted by the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce.

It will include networking and speakers including: 

• Bob Nelson (Fourth District Supervisor and Board Chair)

• Jana Petersen (County Executive Officer)

• Melissa James (CEO, REACH)

• Dennis Assanis (Chancellor, UC Santa Barbara)

The county is facing challenges on several levels including the requirements to add more housing, especially affordable housing.

It is also at odds on the issue of developing oil or being the county that has oversight on oil pipelines from platforms in federal waters, mainly operated by Sable.

The county has had strong success in the area of agriculture, although wine grapes are falling off in production due to a drop in consumer demand. Strawberries remain a top crop.

In the last year Google has expanded its campus in Goleta.

Technology has found a solid home in the area, in part because of the number of startups coming from graduates of UC Santa Barbara.

Vandenberg Space Force Base is also a major site for rocket launches with an estimated total for this year expected to be near 90. Most are part of the Starlink system using Falcon 9 rockets.

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