New Hampshire Business Review - January 14 2011

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ended its investigation of Financial Resources Mortgage Inc., the defunct business at the heart of New Hampshire's biggest Ponzi scheme, leaving the entire matter up to the bankruptcy court.The federal agency has proposed…

The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission has made changes to its wood-pellet heating rebate program so that more wood-pellet boilers and furnaces now qualify for the rebates. The PUC made two changes to the rebate program, which applies to wood-pellet…

The eighth in a series of regional business outreach sessions designed to connect New Hampshire businesses with state leaders and state services will be held Friday, Feb. 11, in Concord.The Concord business outreach session will be held at Grappone Hall…

In the midst of another acquisition, People's United Bank announced a slew of financial news, including quarterly and full-year earnings, a stock buy-back and a dividend.Bridgeport, Conn.-based People's announced fourth-quarter 2010 net income of $32 million, or 9 cents per…

The New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority said there were 203 foreclosed deeds recorded in the state in December 2010, an encouraging 11 percent drop from November, and a significant 36 percent decrease from December 2009.December was also the third consecutive…

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, both based in Massachusetts, have acknowledged they are considering a merger, with the potential of combining operations in four states, including New Hampshire.The insurers signed a memorandum of agreement that would consolidate…

A New Hampshire paper mill has been fined by a federal agency for workplace safety violations that led to the death of a worker last year.APC Paper Co. Inc. in Claremont has been fined $288,000 by the U.S. Department of…

The outcome was no great surprise, but a key technology grant program of the U.S. Small Business Administration has been given another short lease on life.The U.S. House Committee on Small Business has passed a resolution granting the Small Business…

In the end, Scott Farah was judged the mastermind of the Financial Resource Mortgages Inc. Ponzi scheme and was sent straight to a 15-year prison term -- five more years than federal prosecutors sought.But U.S. District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro…

Hampton-based Unitil Corp. has declared a quarterly dividend of 34.5 cents per share, payable Feb. 15 to recorded shareholders as of Feb. 1, the company announced.Unitil officials said the dividend results in a current effective annual rate of $1.38 per…