Focus: Lewiston-Auburn piece on Northeast Bank, which has acquired five Maine

Focus: Lewiston-Auburn piece on Northeast Bank, which has acquired five Maine insurance agencies in the last 12 months in a bid to diversify its income streams and product offerings. Jim Delamater, president of Northeast Bank, says the acquisitions are part of plan to offer deals on loan rates or insurance premiums for customers who do both banking and insurance business with Northeast. Chris Pinkham, president of the Maine Association of Community Banks, notes that other Maine banks have looked to the insurance business to diversify income in the face of falling income from traditional banking products. Craig Sargent, president of Northeast Bank Insurance Group, points out the challenges of merging a sales culture (insurance) with a service culture (banking)