{"id":18133,"date":"2017-01-04T13:59:25","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T13:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.impactmania.com\/im\/michael-towbes-builds-to-give\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T12:19:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T12:19:26","slug":"michael-towbes-builds-to-give","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.impactmania.com\/im\/michael-towbes-builds-to-give\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Towbes: Builds to Give"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MT_NY_Nov<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

Update November 28, 2017.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael Towbes (87) died April 13, 2017. Santa Barbara City Council proclaims today, (November 28) “Michael Towbes Day”. Below conversation was held during\u00a0Michael’s last trip with his wife Anne Towbes. The above photograph was taken in\u00a0their home in Manhattan, New York.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Michael Towbes: Builds to Give<\/span><\/h1>\n
BY PAKSY PLACKIS-CHENG
\nNovember 29, 2016
\n<\/span><\/h5>\n
\n

Santa Barbara, California<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is a gem-like city\u00a0glistening in the sunshine, nestled between the shimmering Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez mountains. Yet the real beauty is in its community due to the many makers, builders, and givers. It is a city filled with\u00a0people contributing time, talent, and treasure to keep Santa Barbara special.<\/span><\/p>\n

A notable impact maker, Michael Towbes, exemplifies the Santa Barbara spirit by giving back across all dimensions. From being a founding member of the\u00a0Scholarship Foundation<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0contributing to\u00a0UCSB<\/a><\/strong>, to\u00a0building workforce housing, parks, and playgrounds \u2014 Towbes daily demonstrates his commitment to the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The civil engineer, developer, and general contractor is the owner of\u00a0The Towbes Group<\/strong><\/a>, an extensive real estate portfolio in California.\u00a0Michael Towbes is also the Chairman and owner of Montecito Bancorp, which owns\u00a0Montecito Bank & Trust<\/strong><\/a>, with assets of $1.2 billion.\u00a0And counting!<\/span><\/p>\n

Towbes explains\u00a0why he doesn\u2019t give anonymously, shares his advice for entrepreneurs, and speaks\u00a0about one of the people who have left an imprint on his professional DNA.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Montecito Bank & Trust recently celebrated the 14<\/strong>th<\/sup><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>year of the\u00a0<\/strong>Community Dividend<\/strong><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>event. Each year the bank gives away one million dollars to the Santa Barbara community. What spurred that?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m the sole shareholder of the bank and I\u2019ve always been interested in expanding what the bank does for the community. The idea was that we would have an annual event right before Thanksgiving, which seems like a good time to give away a million dollars. We came up with granting dividends<\/em>\u00a0to the nonprofit community for what they do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We invite about 100 people to come to the\u00a0Biltmore<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0[Hotel in Santa Barbara]. This year, we also added a seminar on cyber-security, which is important for everyone serving the nonprofit world.\u00a0Then we ended the event for the people to continue schmoozing. [Laughs<\/em>.]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What has been a surprising thing you have learned\u00a0while building your businesses?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Being an entrepreneur means that there are always things popping up. You have to be flexible. You have to understand that circumstances change. It\u2019s always a good idea to not instantaneously respond; you need to spend a little time thinking about the right way to deal with a situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Could you give me an example where you took some time thinking about a situation?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A good example was when we went through the financial problems of 2007-2008. Banks were told, \u201cYou will have to sign up for\u00a0TARP<\/a><\/strong>,\u201d the relief money the government was providing to banks.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a period of time, we decided not to take any TARP money. We said, \u201cWe don\u2019t need TARP, we\u2019re doing fine without.\u201d It benefited us not to have taken the money.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Montecito

Montecito Bank & Trust, Owner and Chairman, Michael Towbes; Philanthropist, Anne Towbes; and Montecito Bank & Trust, President & CEO, Janet Garufis. Photo by Melissa Walker.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

You have built up your businesses with many core values. How do you ensure that four generations from today the companies still hold that core and are value-aligned?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019ll be very happy if the next<\/em> generation knows that I\u2019ve spent a lot of time working on my\u00a0businesses. I am not worrying about four generations from now. One of the most important things is hiring the right people. The people who run the businesses for me,\u00a0Janet Garufis<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at the bank and Craig Zimmerman<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at The Towbes Group, go beyond even what I do. Maybe I set a good example, but they build on that.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n