Business

AmericanWest Bank has completed its purchase of eight Pacific Trust Bank offices in the Inland Empire. The transaction, which was announced Oct. 4, includes two offices in Riverside and one in Temecula, according to a report originally published in The Press-Enterprise. The sale was valued at $6.3 million. AmericanWest agreed …

Freedom Communications Inc., owner of the Orange County Register, announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement to buy The Press-Enterprise in Riverside. The $27.25 million transaction is expected to close this month, according to a report originally published in the Victorville Daily Press. Besides the Register, Freedom Communications owns …

The Toro Company was honored recently for its support of irrigation throughout California and for its work with cities, water districts and the state in getting July designated as “Smart Irrigation Month.” Assemblyman Eric Linder, R-Corona, recently recognized the Riverside-based company for its irrigation efforts, according to a statement. For …

A recycling company has opened a 100,000-square-foot facility in Pomona. National Environmental Protection Co., better known as NEPCO, held a grand opening ceremony last week at its facility at 750 S. Reservoir St. in southeast Pomona, according to a published report. The company, which employs more than 50 people, converts …

A Moreno Valley man has been arrested in connection with an investment fraud operation in which more than $11 million was stolen from investors who were promised major returns from oil and gas projects. Timothy Aubrey, 53, surrendered to FBI agents in Riverside this week after charges of mail and …

Gov. Brown has signed a bill that raises the state’s minimum wage. The legislation, which Brown signed Wednesday during a ceremony in downtown Los Angeles, will raise the current minimum wage of $8 an hour to $9 an hour as of July 1 of next year, according to a published …