REGION

REGION

Contract awarded for
proposed liquid fuel plant

WELLSVILLE — Baard Energy has awarded a contract to AMEC Paragon of Texas to provide engineering and management services for the proposed coal-to-liquid fuel plant in Wellsville.

Tracy Drake, the chief executive officer of the Columbiana County Port Authority, announced the agreement Tuesday. Terms were not disclosed.

The contract will cover engineering on the front end of the process and design work. The company is to begin work in November.

The proposed plant with an estimated cost of $5 billion would turn coal and other materials into 50,000 barrels of jet and diesel fuel a day.

AMEC Paragon did the work for the initial engineering and management phase for John Baardson, Baard Energy’s president and chief executive. In a release, Baardson said the first phase went smoothly and according to schedule.

NATION

Canada’s TD Bank
to buy Commerce Bancorp

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. — Canada’s second-largest bank is bidding to bulk up its south-of-the-border presence by buying New Jersey-based Commerce Bancorp for $8.5 billion in cash and stock. The deal announced Tuesday would nearly double TD Bank Financial Group’s United States presence, adding Commerce’s roughly 460 branches on the East Coast.

From Vindicator staff and wire reports