Wind turbine maker Clipper Windpower, based in Carpinteria, sold 49.5 percent of the company to United Technologies Corp. for $270 million on 12/9. Despite huge revenue growth, Clipper Windpower had struggled to stay afloat during the recession; the company turned in a $313-million loss in 2008. The losses and job cuts occurred despite revenue increases to $737 million from $24 million the year before.

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Santa Barbara-based Select Staffing announced on 12/11 that it will go public in a $840 million merger with Florida-based Atlas Acquisition Holding Corp., a publicly traded firm with the sole purpose of buying into an operating company. Select Staffing says it hopes to retire $200 million in debt as a result of the merger. Select has grown dramatically in recent years through the acquisition of dozens of companies, and employs approximately 750 people in the region.

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A Lompoc community group, Citizens Against Walmart Expansion (CAWE), received a $3,000 grant from the Fund for Santa Barbara this week. The money, the group announced, will be used to educate the public about the superstore’s harmful impacts on the area through public informational presentations, rallies, and screenings of the documentary Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price.

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