BRUNSWICK

Window-coverings company plans to join business park

A company that makes parts for window coverings is set to sign a lease and open a new 11,000-square-foot design lab in Brunswick that will create 10 new high-paying jobs.

Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Steve Levesque says he expects Stamford, Conn.-based RollEase Inc. to sign the lease next week.

When RollEase signs, it will be the eighth new company and 42nd overall to join the Brunswick Landing business park at the former U.S. Navy base that was closed in 2005. Those companies will employ as many as 750 by the end of the year.

Levesque told The Times Record that RollEase is a “great fit” for the park.

RollEase designs, manufactures and markets manual operating systems and accessories for soft and hard window coverings, such as blinds.

AUGUSTA

State among most affordable for auto, home insurance

Maine ranks among the most affordable states for personal auto and homeowners insurance, state officials said this week.

A report by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners ranked Maine third in its nationwide ranking of lowest personal auto insurance premiums. Maine previously had been ranked fifth.

Maine ranks 11th when it comes to lowest average homeowners insurance premiums, according to the group’s annual homeowners insurance report.

“Maine is consistently a national leader in affordable auto and homeowners insurance,” Gov. Paul LePage said in a statement.

Eric Cioppa, the state’s insurance superintendent, said the rankings reflect “the healthy competitiveness of the auto insurance market in Maine.”

Maine continues to rank among the states with the lowest percentage of uninsured motorists, Cioppa said.

WASHINGTON

Failure of small Idaho bank is third in the nation for 2014

Regulators have closed a small lender in Idaho, marking the third U.S. bank failure of 2014 after 24 closures last year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that it has taken over Syringa Bank, based in Boise, Idaho.

The lender, which operated six branches, had $153.4 million in assets and $145.1 million in deposits as of Sept. 30.

ALBANY, N.Y.

Judge approves $8.5 billion Bank of America settlement

A New York judge on Friday approved most of the $8.5 billion Bank of America settlement over investor losses from mortgage-backed securities, concluding that trustee Bank of New York Mellon acted reasonably. Critics of the settlement had argued that it represented only a fraction of the losses.

– From staff and news services

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