Des Moines-based Aviva USA announced that Jeff Frazee has joined the company as senior vice president and chief information officer of the life insurance and annuity business. Frazee will be located in Des Moines and will be responsible for all information technology functions supporting the U.S. life and annuity business. Frazee comes to Aviva from West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. in West Bend, Wis., where he served as vice president and chief information officer.

The Broadlawns Medical Center Board of Trustees has appointed Michael Treinen to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of Judith Lahart in October. Treinen is a retired partner of the BrownWinick law firm, and his term will run through December 2014.

Rises in the wholesale cost of food and fuel triggered a 1.8 percent increase last month in the Producer Price Index, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said today. Minus food and fuel, the index, which economists use as a gauge of future inflation, rose 0.5 percent. Since November 2008, wholesale prices have increased 2.4 percent, the BLS said. The government’s report on prices at the retail level will be released Wednesday.

Bank of America Corp. pledged a $5 billion increase in lending to small and medium-sized businesses in 2010, according to a CNNMoney.com report. The announcement followed a meeting at which President Obama pressured the bailed-out banks to start reinvesting in the economy. Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis said that the company’s improved financial condition and its optimism about the economy allow it to step up lending. Read more.

Wells Fargo & Co. announced it plans to repay the entire $25 billion of bailout money it received from the federal government for its participation in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Zacks.com reported today. It will repay the sum after it completes a $10.4 billion common stock offering. Wells Fargo joins Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. as the third large bank to announce its intention to exit the government’s bailout program this month. Read more.