ExxonMobil plans to expand B.R. refinery

ExxonMobil Refining & Supply will invest more than $1 billion in three refineries, including its Baton Rouge location, to increase production of cleaner burning diesel by six million gallons a day. Along with the work at the Scenic Highway plant, the company will build new units and modify existing facilities in Baytown, Texas, and Antwerp, Belgium. “Our increase in diesel production at these three sites will be equal to the diesel produced from about four average-size refineries,” ExxonMobil Refining & Supply President Sherman Glass says. Refinery modifications and expansions are expected to be completed by 2010. ExxonMobil will hold a news conference today to announce additional details about the local expansion.

Second Green Light project completed

A second Green Light Plan roadway project has been completed, city officials say. The $5.3 million Burbank Drive Segment 2 project includes two additional travel lanes from Bluebonnet Boulevard to Highland Road, more turning lanes and signal improvements at Burbank and Bluebonnet. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The Green Light Plan includes at least $500 million in traffic improvements and was approved in 2005 when parish residents voted to extend a half-cent sales tax through 2030 and permit bond issues backed by that tax. For more information about the plan, click here.

Meanwhile, all five lanes of Perkins Road between Siegen Lane and Bluebonnet opened Saturday night, when the Department of Transportation and Development completed the first phase of the project. The Perkins Road widening project continues to run on schedule, DOTD says. It began January 2007 and is scheduled to finish January 2010. The $27 million project will five-lane Perkins from Siegen to Essen Lane and replace open-ditch drainage with subsurface drainage and a curb, gutter and sidewalk system.

New rule could make mortgages harder to get

An FDIC proposal to increase the cost of community banks’ major source of capital could also make it harder to get a residential mortgage. In the fall, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which insures consumer deposits against bank failures, could raise insurance premiums on banks borrowing from Federal Home Loan Banks. Home Loan Banks, supported by an 8,100-member FHLBank System, represent the largest collective source of home mortgage and community credit in the U.S.

Woody Briggs, vice president and banking analyst with Chaffe & Associates in New Orleans, questions the move when Congress says it wants to improve loan availability in the country. “You’re talking about people needing loans, so why are you trying to screw them up?” Briggs says. The U.S. Treasury Department is currently pouring $350 billion into publicly traded banks for loans to thaw a national credit freeze.

Many community banks have been using the FHLBank System’s faster, cheaper and easily accessible capital, which has allowed a reliable source of residential mortgages even in the recession. Briggs says higher insurance premiums could discourage banks from using the fund, which would make less capital available for mortgages.

Bank executives hope to overturn the FDIC proposal, which was intended to shore up the deposit insurance fund in the financial crisis. Briggs says the premium hike isn’t warranted because community banks are basically sound and don’t have liquidity problems. Camden R. Fine, president/CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America, says the FDIC could raise the premiums by seven basis points (7 cents per $100 in deposits) as early as the first quarter of 2009.—Anna Thibodeaux

Nominations open for Business Awards and Hall of Fame

It's time to submit your nominations for the 27th annual Business Awards and Hall of Fame banquet, which will be held on April 23. The event is presented annually by Business Report and Junior Achievement. The categories include Business Hall of Fame Laureate (for a lifetime of achievement), Company of the Year (under 100 employees), Company of the Year (100 or more employees), Young Business Person of the Year (40 or under) and Business Person of the Year. To nominate your company, a client, vendor or friend, go to batonrouge.ja.org or call 928-7008. The deadline for nominations is Dec. 31.

Real Estate Weekly: Falling mortgage prices have Realtors’ attention

Real Estate Weekly has news on local Realtors who are calling attention to rapidly falling mortgage rates. The big drop has led to a refinancing rush in some cities—but not Baton Rouge. Also, a new report shows less interest in buying foreclosed homes, a local Realtor is appointed to a statewide board and the latest columns from Tom Cook and Brian Andrews. To read the newsletter, click here.

Code enforcement could help fight crime, redevelopment authority told

Better housing code enforcement could help the city-parish promote redevelopment of blighted properties and even fight crime, an expert told the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority today. David Marcello, executive director of The Public Law Center in New Orleans, says communities such as North Charleston, S.C., Roanoke, Va., and Jefferson Parish all credit code enforcement for reducing violent crime. Marcello says East Baton Rouge’s current enforcement process lacks administrative hearings, a remedy with more teeth than a letter from the Department of Public Works but less drastic, costly and burdensome than demolition or a lawsuit. EBRRA Chairman John Noland says he had the sense that the city-parish isn’t usually very aggressive about code enforcement.

Also discussed:

—The Jones Walker law firm, working on the authority’s behalf, plans to file an action in January to clear title on 10 to 20 adjudicated properties that have been sitting on the parish rolls for years. This will be the authority’s first test case and will help familiarize the judges with the process; mature authorities in other cities will sometimes file for clear title on thousands of properties at a time. The goal is to move such properties into productive uses.

—The board approved a $2 million budget for fiscal year 2009. “We’re making some guesses,” Noland says. The authority currently doesn’t have a staff or recurring revenue.—David Jacobs

Local organic food store to close

After 28 years in business, Living Foods is set to close. Rory Nettles, who owns the health food store with his wife, Soyla, says its time to close the store, on Perkins Road near the overpass. "When we opened, we were one of the few natural food stores in town," Nettles says. But the market has been saturated since Whole Foods came into Baton Rouge and national retailers, from Wal-Mart to Albertsons started carrying organic produce. "The market has become saturated," Nettles says. "We've run our course, and it's time to do other things." Nettles has listed the 2,300-square-foot building with Sealy & Falgoust Real Estate for $299,000. "This is a very high demand area and a historic business district," he says. "You look at the businesses around here—George's, Ivar's, Pinetta's, Parrain's—they're all booming." Living Foods will remain open until the property is sold.—Timothy Boone

Ultix Technologies wins Tech Park U contest

Ultix Technologies, a local startup business, has been named the winner of the 2008 Tech Park U business plan competition. The company, headed by Don Flores, develops customized software for companies that work with existing business programs. As the winner, Ultix receives a $2,000 grant.

Landrieu to head business committee

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a New Orleans Democrat, has been appointed as the new chairwoman of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. In political terms, it’s a major bump in influence and rank for Landrieu, who already was chairing a subcommittee of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and sitting on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “Bolstered by my seats on other key committees for our state, this assignment provides the seniority to fight even harder for Louisiana’s more than 350,000 small businesses,” she says. While serving on the small business committee, Landrieu has developed a strong coalition with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and taken a lead role in disaster recovery legislation. She recently met with President-elect Barack Obama to “emphasize the importance of American small businesses to the economic recovery of the nation and any community affected by future disasters.” Landrieu replaces Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts who was appointed recently as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In a prepared statement, Kerry said small businesses should feel “proud” to have Landrieu at the helm. “As small business committee chairman, I traveled to Louisiana with Mary and I saw firsthand her passion for helping small-business owners in her state and across the country. After Louisiana was walloped by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Sen. Landrieu put Washington on notice that she wouldn't accept a second-rate federal response and she fought for aid to rebuild her state’s economy.”—Jeremy Alford

Cox adds two channels, Disney Family Movie package

Cox is adding two channels to its cable television lineup and the Disney Family Movie package to its OnDemand network. The MLB Network, which offers live games, highlights, original programming and reruns of classic baseball games, is now available on Channel 254. The fashion-themed Style Network is now available on Channel 263. Disney Family Movies are now offered OnDemand; for $6.99 per month, subscribers will have access to more than 15 movies ranging from animated Disney classics to movie shorts.

Financial roundup: Fed ready to slash rates amid deepening recession … Consumer prices drop more than expected … Administration still working on auto bailout

An all-time low? With the recession dragging down consumer prices and home construction, the Federal Reserve is prepared to slash a key interest rate—perhaps to an all-time low—in a desperate bid to stem the country's economic slide. In its battle against a recession that started last December, the Fed already has cut the target for the federal funds rate, its main tool for influencing economic activity, to 1%, a level seen only once before in the last half-century. Many economists predict the Fed will cut the funds rate in half—to just 0.50%. A few think the Fed could opt for an even more forceful action—lowering rates by a whopping three-quarters percentage point or more. If that larger cut occurs, it would be the lowest on records that track the monthly average of the funds rate going back to 1954. The funds rate is the interest banks charge each other on overnight loans. In response to the Fed's expected action, the prime rate—now at 4%—for many consumer and small-business loans would drop by a corresponding amount. The prime lending rate is used to peg rates on home equity loans, certain credit cards and other consumer loans. Cheaper rates could give pinched borrowers a dose of relief.

November prices set record plunge: Consumer prices, an inflation barometer, last month fell by the largest amount on records going back 61 years as energy costs posted nearly double the decline of the previous month, the Labor Department reported today. Prices fell 1.7%, surpassing the previous record decline of 1% set in October. It was the largest one-month decline dating to February 1947. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, was flat in November after a 0.1% drop in October. The overall slide in prices reflects the big drop in energy costs in recent months. After hitting a record at $147 per barrel in mid-July, crude oil has fallen by $100 per barrel since then, pushing down the price of gasoline from a record $4.11 per gallon in July to $1.34 in the most recent Energy Department survey.

Bailout figure could hit $15 billion: The White House says the Bush administration is still working on details of a rescue package for domestic automakers. While a key senator says the relief package could reach $15 billion for General Motors and Chrysler, White House press secretary Dana Perino said today the package is still being finalized. President George W. Bush said earlier that a bankruptcy in the U.S. auto industry would hurt the economy while the U.S. deals with the recession. GM and Chrysler have said they could run out of cash within weeks without support from the government.

Poll: Most still have Christmas shopping to do

Christmas is just over a week away, and 76% of Daily Report readers say they still have presents to buy. Twenty-four percent of the people who responded to an online survey say they're finished buying presents, while 39% say they're more than halfway done. Twenty-one percent say they haven't started buying gifts yet, and 16% say they've bought less than half their presents. More than 1,150 people participated in the survey.

Today's question: Would you support a proposal to raise teacher pay in Louisiana, lifting salaries to the point where state teachers were among the 10 highest paid in America?

News roundup: Mall parent misses deadline for $900 million payment … Clegg to appear on '700 Club' … Federal Reserve to vote on credit card reform

The check isn’t in the mail: General Growth Properties, the parent company of the Mall of Louisiana, missed a deadline Monday to repay $900 million in debt. The mall operator was negotiating for an extension to the maturity date mortgage loan for two Las Vegas shopping centers. The nation's second-largest mall operator is working to stave off bankruptcy brought on by massive real estate debt. Investors have downgraded General Growth's debt rating to junk status.

What's cooking? Cookbook author Holly Clegg will be making another appearance on daytime television Wednesday. Clegg will appear on The 700 Club, preparing a Christmas dinner. The program airs at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the ABC Family Channel.

Relief for debt-laden consumers? The Federal Reserve is set to vote on credit card reforms Thursday that could bring relief to customers who face a variety of late fees, universal defaults and shorter payment periods, Reuters says. The move comes after sharp criticism aimed at credit card companies, for imposing surprise fees and interest rate hikes. Card companies have warned the changes will lead to higher interest rates and potentially lower borrowing limits.