Three companies from away visiting Maine, LePage says

Gov. Paul LePage says three out-of-state companies are visiting Maine this month because they’re interested in doing business here.

The Republican governor said Tuesday that the visits came out of meetings he had with companies at the U.S. Manufacturing Summit last month hosted by Walmart and the National Retail Federation in Florida.

Department of Economic and Community Development spokesman Doug Ray said that they are businesses in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, but would not provide any other details.

LePage recently said that several companies, including a beauty company from China and a rug manufacturer from Canada, expressed interest during the summit in moving to Maine.

Ombudsman hosting forum for business community

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s national ombudsman will host a forum Monday for small-business owners, representatives of local economic development organizations and trade groups.

Ombudsman Brian Castro will discuss federal regulatory issues affecting small businesses at 9 a.m. in room 102 at the University of Southern Maine’s Wishcamper Center at 34 Bedford St. in Portland.

The event will give the local business community a chance to voice concerns about unfair regulatory enforcement, excessive fines, retaliation, disproportionately burdensome regulations, or other regulatory issues involving federal agencies.

Concerns raised at the forum will be directed to a federal agency for a fairness review.

The event is open to the public. To attend, contact Jose Mendez at the Office of the National Ombudsman at jose.mendez@sba.gov or (202) 205-6178. For more information about the Office of the National Ombudsman, visit www.sba.gov/ombudsman.

Co-founder of Daily Beast won’t get contract renewed

Tina Brown, the editor who oversaw the ill-fated merger of Newsweek and The Daily Beast website, is parting ways with the company.

That’s according to a report by Buzzfeed business editor Peter Lauria.

The website reported that Brown’s contract expires in January and will not be renewed. Brown, the former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, may take with her the Women in the World conference as part of her severance agreement.

IAC/InterActiveCorp, based in New York, bought Newsweek for $1 in 2010 and, a few months later, merged it with The Daily Beast, which Brown co-founded. The money-losing newsweekly magazine went online-only last year and was sold IBT Media last month.

— From staff and news services