Home Savings makes step to form insurance group

YOUNGSTOWN — United Community Financial Corp., holding company of The Home Savings and Loan Co., announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire James & Sons Insurance.

This transaction marks the initial step in the formation of The Home Savings Insurance Group. Home Savings plans to expand its insurance business via a selective acquisition strategy.

The agency will continue to operate as James & Sons Insurance and will remain at its current location on Market Street in Boardman.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016.

“We are very pleased to be partnering with the James & Sons organization,” said Gary Small, president and CEO of Home Savings and UCFC, in a statement. “They are a well-established and highly regarded agency with a rich history in the Mahoning Valley.”

James & Sons Insurance is a local, family-owned insurance agency established in 1921.