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Santa Barbara Public Market sold Montecito families buy food hall for $10 million
December job gains strong, but Great Resignation continues By CASEY HARPER THE CENTER SQUARE SENIOR REPORTER
(The Center Square) — The U.S. showed strong job gains in December, but a record number of Americans continue to leave the workforce voluntarily. ADP released December’s private sector payroll report Wednesday showing that private sector employment rose by 807,000 jobs from November to December, well above experts’ predictions. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday that there are 10.6 million job openings in the U.S. as the “quits rate” rose to 3%. These quits came amid a rise in federal benefit programs such as the monthly child tax credit, which expired last month. “Total separations include quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations,” BLS said. “Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
The new owners of the Santa Barbara Public Market don’t anticipate making any major changes and plan on supporting the momentum created by original owner Marge Cafarelli.
By FORREST MCFARLAND NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
The Santa Barbara Public Market, the city’s premier food hall, was sold as a package deal to local entrepreneurs and philanthropists for more than $10 million. Founded in 2014, the Public Market is located at the corner of
Victoria and Chapala streets and offers a wide selection of artisanal food and drinks that represents a diverse group of cultures. Original owner Marge Cafarelli created a space where people of all walks of life could occupy a corner to showcase new talent in culture and cuisine. Michael Martz, Hayes Commercial Group partner,
represented Ms. Cafarelli throughout the sale. “Mrs. Cafarelli was the head of this passion project from the very beginning,” Mr. Martz told the News-Press about the market. “She was just at a point where she was ready to move on to the next project.” The Public Market was sold to the Winn and Twining families.
Alastair Winn was a biomedical engineer and is the president at Applied Silicone Corp. Travis Twining is the owner of construction equipment company Asset Equipment. “One of our main objectives was that we find a good, local buyer who understands Santa Barbara,” Mr. Martz told the News-Press. Please see MARKET on A3
Handcrafted ice cream is among the artisanal food at the market, which was founded in 2014.
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Keith Berry leaves behind legacy of community service By FORREST MCFARLAND NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Santa Barbara real estate entrepreneur and community leader Keith Berry has died. A Santa Barbara native, Mr. Berry grew up on the Central Coast, briefly leaving to serve in the Navy on the USS Helena and at Pearl Harbor’s submarine base. Mr. Berry returned to Santa Barbara to assist his ill father with his business. After six years of working with his father and a title company, he moved into real estate sales where he thrived for the remainder of his career. While working as a partner, Mr. Berry expanded the company to 40 offices with 2,500 agents and two escrow companies. After achieving this career high, Mr. Berry sold the enterprise to be a full-time parent for 12 years with his wife Tina and helped raise their five children. Mr. Berry returned to the industry after this hiatus as an agent, listing and selling real estate all over the Santa Barbara area, specializing in Hope Ranch and Montecito. Mr. Berry was consistently in the top 1,000 Coldwell Banker agents and was awarded the Master Instructor Emeritus and Realtor Emeritus by the California Association of Realtors. He also served on the faculty of the Graduate Realtors Institute, mentored many agents
COURTESY PHOTO
Keith Berry was awarded the Master Instructor Emeritus and Realtor Emeritus by the California Association of Realtors.
and wrote articles for several publications. Most importantly, Mr. Berry was a great asset to the Santa Barbara community. He contributed precious time and money to scholarship programs, health associations and public projects such as the Santa Barbara Zoo. Mr. Berry is survived by his five adult children, four granddaughters and one grandson. email: fmcfarland@newspress.com
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in side Classified.............. B4 Life..................... B1-2 Obituaries............. A4
or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations include separations due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.” The Biden administration has touted the job growth as the economy rebounding from the downturn in the wake of nationwide COVID-19 lockdowns, but that recovery has been troubled by other economic indicators such as increased inflation and the elevated quit rates. “The number of quits increased in November to a series-high 4.5 million (+370,000),” BLS said. “The quits rate increased to 3.0 percent, matching the series high in September. Quits increased in several industries with the largest increases in accommodation and food services (+159,000); health care and social assistance (+52,000); and transportation, Please see JOBS on A3
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 2-9-17-20-25 Mega: 7
Friday’s DAILY 4: 0-5-3-5
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS:7-29-43-56-57 Mega: 6
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 5-11-27-28-35
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 12-05-09 Time: 1:49.65
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 6-18-25-33-46 Meganumber: 17
Friday’s DAILY 3: 9-3-1 / Midday 2-1-7