Michael Towbes is Chairman and owner of the Towbes Group, an award-winning and respected construction, development and asset management company based in Santa Barbara. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Princeton University and attended graduate school at MIT. This training informs his ongoing track record of business success achieved through wise planning and calculated risk.

Under Mr. Towbes’ leadership, the Towbes Group manages more than 2 million square feet of commercial space and 2,100 residential units. The company has developed some 6,000 residential units, as well as 1.4 million square feet of commercial space including shopping centers, office buildings, business parks and a mobile home park. Development is primarily focused in the Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

He has been the general contractor for several low-income housing projects for nonprofit sponsors. Additionally, he is a Senior Life Director of the National Association of Home Builders and has chaired its Commercial/Industrial Council.

Mr. Towbes is also Chairman and owner of Montecito Bank & Trust, a Santa Barbara-based bank with assets of more than $800 million and eight branches in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. He was one of the founders of the bank, which opened in 1975.

As a resident and community leader in Santa Barbara since 1960, Mr. Towbes has a distinctive sensitivity to understanding and meeting community needs. He has served on and chaired numerous local nonprofit boards, including the Board of Cottage Hospital for 27 years, including five years as its chair. He is one of Santa Barbara's leading philanthropists, with multi-million dollar gifts to create The Granada, a performing arts center in Santa Barbara, and to assure the continued presence of Santa Barbara's full-time classical music radio station KDB.

Mr. Towbes was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 award finalist in the greater Los Angeles area. He has been honored by his selection as Santa Barbara Man of the Year, recipient of the Santa Barbara News-Press Lifetime Achievement Award and the University of California, Santa Barbara Chancellor’s Medal. He has been chosen both as Santa Barbara Philanthropist of the Year and Santa Barbara Volunteer of the Year by the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives.