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In brief

By TIMES WIRES
Published September 16, 2006

Insurance help for small businesses

The Florida Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association to got clearance Friday to write policies for small business owners desperately seeking commercial property insurance.

Banks to earmark billions for poor areas

Soon-to-merge AmSouth and Regions Bank are committing $15-billion for loans to Florida's poor neighborhoods. The money will be handled in partnership with the Florida Minority Community Reinvestment Coalition. As part of the Community Reinvestment Act, meant to bring capital to under-served areas, bankers will dispense $8-billion for small businesses, $4.5 billion for mortgages and $2.5-million in community development loans or investments.

Scripps fund gets good marks in audit

A state auditor gave generally good grades to Scripps Florida Funding Corp., saying the board responsible for disbursing $310-million in state funds to Scripps Research Institute since 2003 has complied with contract requirements. Over two years, Scripps has received $115.7-million of the state grant for developing its Florida campus in Jupiter. With state funding, Scripps has hired 164 people receiving average salaries of $68,789, the auditor verified.

AOL pioneer plans to step down this year

Ted Leonsis, 50, a self-made technology entrepreneur who helped turn AOL into a multibillion-dollar business and later helped guide it through a recovery from the dot-com bust, plans to step down at the end of the year from his day-to-day responsibilities at the company to focus on his sports, entertainment and philanthropic interests.

Chrysler losses cut parent's forecast

DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's fifth-largest carmaker, unexpectedly cut its full-year profit forecast because of a projected $1.5-billion loss at Chrysler in the U.S. in the third quarter.

Chipmaker Freescale agrees to buyout

Freescale Semiconductor Inc., a Texas-based maker of cell-phone chips that was spun off by Motorola Inc., said Friday it agreed to be purchased by a private-equity consortium for $17.6-billion. The price of $40 per share represents a premium of about 7.6 percent over Freescale's Friday closing share price of $37.16 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Peltz gets a seat on Heinz board

H.J. Heinz Co., the world's biggest ketchupmaker, said billionaire Nelson Peltz and fellow dissident investor Michael Weinstein were elected to the company's board, ending a six-month proxy fight.

[Last modified September 15, 2006, 22:32:32]