1. 6A Pacific Coast Business Times Feb. 5-11, 2016
Technology
www.pacbiztimes.com
Embattled breast implant
manufacturer Sientra made
curious moves Feb. 1 when it
suddenlypromotedtwoexecu-
tivesandgavethemgenerous
bonuses.
TheGoleta-basedcompany
promotedCharlieHuinerfrom
his old title as chief strategy
andcorporatedevelopmentof-
ficer to chief operating officer and senior
vicepresidentofcorporatedevelopment&
strategy. Matthew Pigeon also received a
mostly ceremonial promotion from chief
financial officer and treasurer
to CFO, treasurer and senior
vice president.
The Sientra saga started
Sept.23whenEuropeanregu-
lators suspended European
sales of products made by
Sientra’s Brazilian manufac-
turer Silimed. Nearly simulta-
neously,Sientraheldasecond
public offering that raised $66 million by
selling three million shares for $22 each.
Sientra voluntarily stopped selling prod-
ucts in the U.S. on Oct. 9, despite the Food
and Drug Administration taking no offi-
cial action in the matter.
As part of the promotion, Huiner’s pay
will increase from $265,000 to $325,000.
According to filings with the Securities
andExchangeCommission,hispromotion
was approved Jan. 29 and his compensa-
tion increased effective Nov. 15, 2015.
Sientra also paid Pigeon and Huiner
$50,000 in performance-based bonuses.
Regulatory filings say the actual perfor-
mance metrics will be determined at a
By Philip Joens
Staff Writer
VineyardsacrosstheCentralCoastare
nowpairingtheirwineswithasideofso-
lar electricity.
Withthestateracingtowardmandates
set by Gov. Jerry Brown that will require
half of California’s electricity to come
fromrenewablesourcesby2030,winery
owners are finding that solar energy is a
great way to make their brands appear
more eco-friendly while saving money.
Somehaveinvestedinsolarenergyfor
years.Othersonlyinvestedrecentlyafter
solar panels became cheaper.
Near San Miguel, a new 3-acre so-
lar array just started producing power at
Castoro Cellars’ Stone’s Throw Vineyard.
The sprawling, $1 million array sits just
a few hundred yards from the vineyard’s
productionfacilityandgeneratesallelec-
tricity used to produce Castoro Cellars
wines.
Luke Udsen, sales and marketing di-
rectorforthewinery,saidhisdadstarted
the winery in 1983 and first invested in
solar energy 10 years ago. The winery
now has five different arrays at three dif-
ferent sites, including its tasting room
near Paso Robles and another vineyard.
“Without the sunshine here to ripen
the fruit, we wouldn’t be able to grow
grapes,” Udsen said. “It takes the sun to
ripenthefruitthatwethenturnintowine
andifwe’repoweringthemakingofthat
wine with the sun, it’s a full solar opera-
tion.”
Castoro Cellars put the new array on
acreagepreviouslyusedtogrowgrapes.
The old area needed replanting, which
wouldhaverequiredamajorinvestment.
“We have a significant acreage of
grapes,” Udsen said. “Losing a few acres
for this is not a bad thing.”
Andy Niner, president of Niner Wine
Estates,operatesawineryhisdadbuiltin
2009 near Paso Robles. He said the win-
ery was built to be sustainable from the
get-go.Buildingsthathousearestaurant
and tasting room are LEED Certified.
The vineyard also collects rainwater off
of the roof of its production building,
treatsitinmanmadepondsandthenre-
uses the water.
Theonemissingpiecewassolar.Niner
saidthewinerywasdeterredbythehigh
price of solar panels at the time. Niner
said, in the past, Central Coast wineries
wouldoccasionallyaddsmallsolarinstal-
lationsthatoffsetfractionsoftheirenergy
costtoappeareco-friendlyandsellmore
wine. That has changed as wineries in-
stall bigger solar systems.
Niner Wine Estates uses a solar array to generate the electricity needed to power the vineyard’s operations near Paso Robles.
PHILIPJOENSPHOTO
see SOLAR on page 8A
CalAmp buys LoJack
company for $134 million
Oxnard-based CalAmp completed its
hostiletakeoverofLoJackonFeb.1.bybuy-
ing LoJack for $134 million.
CalAmp makes wireless devices for the
vehicle and transportation industries while
LoJack makes theft recovery systems for
cars, trucks and construction equipment.
CalAmp had discussions with LoJack for 14
months prior to December 2015 and made
three cash offers to buy LoJack.
A Dec. 10 letter from CalAmp to Lo-
Jack’sboardofdirectorschangedeverything.
The letter said “to the detriment of LoJack’s
shareholders,”LoJackhadnotshownawill-
ingness to negotiate. CalAmp also made a
$113 million offer in the letter.
CalAmp will pay $6.45 per share. LoJack
CEO Randy Ortiz said the deal is great for
shareholders.
“We are proud that CalAmp recognizes
LoJack’s success over the last 30 years in
creatingtheftrecoverysolutionsanddevel-
opingstrongcustomerrelationshipsaround
the world,” Ortiz said in a news release.
“With CalAmp as our partner, the LoJack
brand will continue to expand”
Semtech releases device
to help protect products
Semtech, a Camarillo-based maker of
semiconductors for cell phones and elec-
tronic devices, announced the release of a
newdevicedesignedtopreventdamageto
otherdevicesbecauseofsuddendischarges
of electricity caused by static electricity or
electrical shorts. The device costs 13 cents
when ordered 15,000 at a time.
“Withthefastadoptionofelectronicpay-
ment systems on portable devices, such as
smartphonesandsmartwatches,protecting
circuitsonthesedevicesensuresreliableop-
erationandenhancesuserexperience,”said
RickHansen,productmarketingdirectorfor
Semtech.
Vandenberg AFB tests
rocket interceptor
Officials at Vandenberg Air Force
Base’s 30th Space Wing conducted a suc-
cessfultestofaground-basedrocketinter-
ceptor.
Anunarmedrocketinterceptorlaunched
at1:57p.m.Jan.28fromthenorthernpartof
thebasetodestroyamockenemywarhead
launchedfromtheMarshallIslandsoverthe
Pacific Ocean just west of Hawaii, the U.S.
Missile Defense Agency said in a news re-
lease.
Thethree-stagerocketreleasedavehicle
that performed a series of maneuvers and
then flew until it ran out of fuel. The missile
intentionallymissedthemockwarheadthe
vehicle targeted.
Feb. 5-11, 2016 A report on business at the cutting edge Page 7A
see SIENTRA on page 8A
Briefcase
Sun powered
CentralCoastwineriesgettheirelectricityfromsolararrays
Sientrapromotions,bonusesandpayraiseill-timed
NewUCSBlibraryworthyoftopresearchuniversity
By Tony Biasotti
Staff Writer
Sinceyouhavebesomebodyorknowsomebodytoget
tothetopofStorkeTower,thebesteasilyaccessibleview
on the UC Santa Barbara campus — and one of the best
in the tri-county region — is from the top of the eight-
floor library tower.
The main, eight-story library tower was built in 1967
and went almost 50 years without any renovations. A
four-story building was added in 1978 and was soon as
datedasthetallerstructure.Theentirelibrarylookedand
smelled as dusty as its most obscure books.
Bythe1990s,campusleadersknewthelibraryneeded
amajorrenovationandtheystartedtoplanone.Theproj-
ect kept going to the back burner until it finally broke
ground in 2013. Now, 20 years and $80 million later,
UCSB has a library befitting its status as one of the na-
tion’s top public research universities.
The newly renovated library opened Jan. 4, the first
day of the winter academic quarter. The centerpiece is
anentirelynew60,000-square-foot,three-storybuilding
atthenorthendofthelibrary.Theoldbuildings,totaling
92,000 square feet, were completely gutted and rebuilt.
That was done piece by piece, so the library could stay
open during the two and a half years of work.
“It really does feel like a new library,” said Denise Ste-
phens, UCSB’s librarian. “It’s a redefinition, or a reinven-
tion. It has given us an opportunity to rethink a number
of our spaces and programs and to introduce some new
services and capabilities in the new space.”
Thenewbuildinghasthelibrary’snewmainentrance,
with doors on both the east and west sides. It serves as
a focal point of sorts on the campus. For decades, that
central point had been Storke Plaza, and the move to
the library represents a shift of the university’s center of
gravity — both culturally, as its academic reputation im-
proves, and physically, as it lies closer to the new science
buildings on the north and east ends of campus.
The new structure also has a “Learning Commons,”
open 24 hours a day whenever school is in session, with
moreelectricaloutletsandbetterwirelessInternetaccess
than the library ever had before. Previously, the library
had only a small study room open 24 hours.
As a whole, the new and improved library has about
2,500 seats of study space, about 700 more than it had
before. It also has a sit-down restaurant called the Sum-
mit Café.
There’s room for more books as well as more people.
Theoldlibrarybuildingswerefulldecadesago,andthere
were smaller libraries scattered around campus for spe-
cialties like art, architecture and music. All of those col-
lectionshavenowmovedintothemainlibrary,Stephens
said, with the exception of the music library, which will
be moving soon.
UCSB certainly has more people and more research
materials than when its library was built. But those are
far from the biggest changes in what the university de-
mands from its library. With so many research materials
available online, the idea of a central, physical library as
a campus focal point may sound quaint.
It is anything but, Stephens said. Students have em-
braced the new library and Stephens said she expects
about 2 million visits per year now that the work is done,
up from 1.5 million during the renovations.
“Even with all of the changes that have taken place in
technologyandthescholarlypublishingworld…people
needspacetothinkandstudyandreflect,andthelibrary
still is critical as a physical place where people can en-
gage information,” Stephens said. “It is this enduring,
symbolicplace.Weknowwhenwewalkintothedoorsof
a library, we take on a much more scholarly and serious
demeanor.”
The new library is open to the general public during
normal hours, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., when UCSB is in
session. On Fridays and Saturdays, it closes at 9 p.m.
People who are not students, faculty or staff can use
theentirelibraryandaccessanyuniversitydatabasesfor
noncommercial uses. To check out materials, members
of the public must have a library card, which is avail-
able for $100 per year. Free library cards are available
for members of the UC Alumni Association; teachers in
Californiapublicschools;students,facultyandstafffrom
otherUCcampuses;andfacultyandlibrariansfromother
universities in California.
• Contact Tony Biasotti at TonyBiasotti@gmail.com.
Education
The newly renovated library at UC Santa Barbara serves
as a focal point on campus.
TONYBIASOTTIPHOTO
Philip Joens
Technology

2. 8A Pacific Coast Business Times Feb. 5-11, 2016
The Pacific Coast Business Times/UCSB
Economic Forecast Project saw gains of
0.53percentfortheweekendedJan.29.The
national indices also reported increases.
Semiconductor producer Semtech rose
9.4 percent, making it the week’s best per-
former. Stock prices for the Camarillo com-
pany jumped to $20.10 after it announced
the release of a new product.
Raytheon, a defense technology com-
pany with offices in Goleta, gained 8.3 per-
cent, ending at $128.24.
Shares for Deckers Outdoor, the Gole-
ta-based manufacturer of UGG boots, saw
gainsforthesecondweek,rising7.1percent
to $49.46.
Medical technology company Inogen
fell 8.5 percent and was the week’s worst
performer. Shares for the Goleta company
ended at $33.24.
CalAmp, a provider of wireless commu-
nicationssolutionsoutofOxnard,dropped
5 percent to $17.
The county of Santa Barbara has ap-
proved ExxonMobil’s emergency permit to
truck oil.
Exxon plans to transport 425,000 barrels
of oil currently sitting in two tanks at its Las
FloresCanyonstoragefacilitytodestinations
up to 140 miles north on Highway 101.
Trucking to empty the
tanks is expected to take
three to six months, with
no more than 30 truck trips
a day. The permit does not include trucking
tosupportongoingproductionnorauthorize
refilling the tanks from any source.
The county said the permit will mitigate
the risks associated with long-term storage
of oil. The opposition argues that the risk
of trucking oil exceeds the danger posed
by leaving the crude in storage. Exxon has
beenvirtuallyshutdown,alongwithVenoco,
since Plains All American Pipeline ceased
theoperationofLine901anditsconnecting
Line 903 following the Refugio oil spill.
Exxon is expected to begin trucking op-
erations within three weeks.
HERITAGE OAKS FALLS SHORT
PasoRobles-basedHeri-
tage Oaks Bancorp earn-
ings missed analyst esti-
matesforthefourthquarter
but earnings were significantly up on the
year.
Heritage Oaks reported net income of
$3.5 million, or 10 cents per share, for the
fourth quarter. That missed analyst expec-
tations of 11 cents per share and was down
from $4.2 million net earnings, or 13 cents
per share, from the fourth quarter of 2014.
For the year, net income was up 74 per-
cent to $15.3 million, or 45 cents per share,
from $8.8 million, or 27 cents per share, in
2014.
Grossloansincreasedby$53.8million,or
4.5percent,inthefourthquarterto$1.25bil-
lion compared to the same period last year.
New loan production totaled $112.2 million
for the quarter.
Total deposits grew by 12.2 percent, or
$170 million, to $1.56 billion for the fourth
quarter, up from $1.39 billion in the fourth
quarter of 2014.
SHAREHOLDERS OK MERGER
County Commerce Bank shareholders
approveditsproposedmergerwithCitizens
BusinessBank,whichisexpectedtocloseon
Feb. 29.
Theproposedmergerwouldstrengthen
ExxonMobil gets permission to truck oil
• Consumer trends, labor markets and
a key forecasting index pointed to a lower
probability of recession, wrote Montecito
Bank & Trust in a year-end note to in-
vestors.Withinflation-adjustedconsumer
spending close to its 4 percent trend line,
job growth running at 200,000 plus per
monthandtheIndexofLeadingEconomic
Indicators edging ahead, recession risks
remain muted, the report said.
• What a disruptive decade for the mu-
sic industry. Physical sales of music have
gone from basically 100 percent market
shareto20percentwhiledigitalsaleshave
grabbed 80 percent of market revenue,
writes Payden & Rygel in an update for
investors. Spotify pays out $6,000 in rev-
enue per one million listeners, tops in the
recording industry.
• Emerging markets were the most dis-
ruptive force in a disappointing year for
equity investors, writes Capital Group in
itslatestquarterlyinvestmentupdate.The
MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 13.9
percentfor2015comparedtoa1.4percent
gain for U.S. stocks and a 0.9 percent de-
cline for its global index. see FINBRIEFS on page 10A
Feb. 5-11, 2016 A weekly report on personal finance and investing Page 9A
Biz Times index,
national indices
all show gains
Index Update
One-week One-month 52-week
change change change
Biz Times index . . . . 0.53%. . . . -3.97%. . . . 2.37%
DJIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.32%. . . . -5.50%. . . -4.07%
S&P 500. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.75%. . . . -5.07%. . . -2.74%
Nasdaq. . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.50%. . . . -7.86%. . . -0.46%
Russell 2000. . . . . . . . 1.44%. . . . -8.85%. . -11.16%
Note:Seepage11AforcompaniestrackedbytheBusiness
Times/UCSB stock index.
Portfolio watch
$FINANCIAL BRIEFS
TAKING STOCK
Google co-founder and Alphabet CEO Larry Page is all smiles. His company had a market cap of $542.2 billion as of Feb. 2.
Alphabet tops Apple to become
world’s most valuable company
By Jack Clark and Adam Satariano
Bloomberg News
Google parent Alphabet Inc. is the
world’s most valuable company, stealing
the crown from Silicon Valley rival Apple
Inc.afterreportinghigherprofitandsales
fueledbyaboomingadvertisingbusiness
that’ssupportingambitiousnewprojects.
Alphabet’s shares jumped 4.2 percent
whenthemarketopenedFeb.2,pushingits
marketcapitalizationto$542.2billion.The
Webcompanyhadbeeninchingcloserto
theiPhonemakerinrecentweeksasinves-
torslostconfidenceinApple’ssmartphone
businessandwageredthatAlphabethasa
clearer path to growth. Apple first passed
oilgiantExxonMobilCorp.tobecomethe
world’s most valuable company in 2011.
Bychangingitsnameandstructurelast
year,AlphabetCEOLarryPagehasputthe
focusonthecompany’smainWebbusiness
whilegivingmoreinsightintoinvestments
in new areas such as artificial intelligence,
self- driving cars, health technology and
fastInternetaccess.EventhoughApplehas
alsobeenbuildingexpertiseincarsandAI,
the secretive company has kept much of
thatunderwraps.WithiPhonesalesslow-
ingandChina’sgrowthenginesputtering,
Apple is on pace to post its first revenue
declinein15years.Alphabetsalesareesti-
mated to climb 16 percent this year.
“Alphabet’s core business looks very
healthy,”JoshOlson,ananalystatEdward
Jones & Co., said. “That’s going to build
investors’confidenceabouttheotherbets
they’ve been making.”
The shares of Mountain View-based
Alphabetroseto$784.77,anall-timehigh,
BLOOMBERGNEWSFILEPHOTO
see TAKING STOCK on page 10A
SIENTRA
Continued from page 7A
SOLAR
Continued from page 7A
laterdate,butitappearstobeaplaytoget
both men to stay at the company. Regula-
tory filings said Pigeon, Huiner and other
employees were recently awarded stock
options“duetotheirnotablecontributions
to the company in 2015 and as a retention
effort.”
Huiner’s sounds like a somewhat boil-
erplate promotion. At age 44, Huiner is
fairly young but certainly accomplished
and, I’m sure, deserving of his new titles.
He joined Sientra in his previous roles
in February 2014. Before that he worked
from 2007 to 2014 as the vice president
of business development and marketing
forGoleta-basedInTouchHealthSystems.
Huiner also worked from 2003 to 2006
as the director of corporate development
andstrategyforthenSantaBarbara-based
breast implant maker Inamed Corp.
“Charlie has demonstrated the ability
to think strategically and facilitate a high
level of cooperation and execution across
the company,” CEO Jeffrey Nugent said
in a news release. “His increased respon-
sibilities at this time are critical to help
coordinateimportantprioritieswehavein
frontofus,includingtheongoingdevelop-
mentandexecutionofourmanufacturing
and supply chain strategy.”
Initsmostrecentquarterlyearningscall
onNov.16,PigeonandNugentstressedthe
company was on solid financial ground.
The company had $148.9 million in cash
whenthethirdquarterendedonSept.30.
But its losses of $10.33 million during
the first nine months of 2015 were way up
from its losses of $3.34 million over the
same period in 2014. On Oct. 28, Sientra
also repaid a $24.5 million loan.
Still, with Sientra breast implants off
themarket,despitenoevidencetheyposed
a risk to patient safety, it’s curious to see
executivesgettinggenerouspayincreases.
A fourth-quarter earnings reporting
date has yet to be announced but it’s not
hard to imagine that the numbers will be
bleak. Only then will we get a true idea of
howmuchSientrawashurtbytheconclu-
sions of European regulators that Silimed
implants were contaminated by particles
of silica and cotton.
ASientraspokesmansaidthesetypesof
promotionsarenormalatcompanies.Even
I, probably less business savvy than my
dearreaders,getthat.TheSientraspokes-
man also said Sientra employs top talent
and, to retain top talent, Sientra gives bo-
nuses and promotions.
But let’s also remember Sientra is cur-
rently facing lawsuits in federal courts in
Los Angeles and San Francisco regard-
ing the timing of its secondary offering.
A Dec. 17 report from German newspaper
BadischeZeitungsaidparticlesonSilimed
implantswerejust20nanometerslongand
posed no risk to human health.
Complaints in the lawsuits allege Sien-
tra knew its Silimed factory was contami-
nated by particles but did not disclose
manufacturing problems that led to the
contaminationbeforethesecondaryoffer-
ing. Among the complaints is one by the
Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement
System, which bought stock in the sec-
ondary offering. The complaint says the
systemboughtsharesinthesecondoffer-
ing on behalf of 2,602 members, but lost
moneyaftertheSept.23announcementby
European regulators.
Other investors in the lawsuits allege
they lost $16,000, $62,000 and $86,765
each.
While it may be standard practice to
give executives promotions, now hardly
seemslikethetimeforSientratobegiving
out pay raises.
Just ask the Oklahoma police.
• Contact Philip Joens at pjoens@
pacbiztimes.com
Becausethecostofsolarenergyhascome
down recently, Niner said he made his first
investment—$1.3millionfora388kilowatt
system last year. The system went online in
Octoberandnowproducesallpowerforthe
winery’s three buildings.
“Our first reason for doing it is because
it makes economic sense,” Niner said. “The
minutetheeconomicscomeintoplay,then
you see folks who are long-term thinking
who care about that.”
Ninereveninstalledchargingstationsfor
Teslas and other electric cars so employees
cancommutetoandfromworkoffthegrid.
San Luis Obispo-based REC Solar in-
stalled the arrays at both wineries. Ryan
Park, REC Solar director of business devel-
opment, said, over the years, REC Solar has
installedsolarsystemsataboutadozenwin-
eries in the region.
Hesaidithasalsoinstalledsolarpanelsat
wineries in Napa Valley.
“Wineries were actually some of the first
to go into solar,” Park said. “Usually, they’re
smalleroperationssodecisionscanbemade
easier. People that go into this find they go
into it for the love of wine and land.”
ParksaidRECinstalledprojectsforabout
$7perwattin2005.Today,itinstallsprojects
for about $2 per watt.
Becausethesystemsrequirelittlemainte-
nance,hesaid,itisworththeinvestmentfor
vineyard owners.
“It’s low risk,” Park said. “(Wineries) are
usually in good sun regions.”
Solar panels do pose one problem for
wineries. They look cool in a techy way but
are not attractive to customers.
The array at Castoro Cellars’ production
site is tucked away on a hillside beneath a
valley not visible from the road.
At Niner Wine Estates, one array sits far
offofHighway46,nearthetastingroomand
shielded by trees. The other array at Niner
Wine Estates sits on top of its production
building, which is located far off the high-
way behind several hills.
Niner said wine enthusiasts like to know
wineriesaresustainablebuthatehavingthe
ambiance ruined by solar panels.
“We knew aesthetics were going to be
an issue,” Niner said. “So we wanted to pre-
serve the view. But we also needed to find
thebalancebetweenarraysizeandwhatwe
needtogetthisthing100percentcovered.”