Hyperion Resources Inc., of Dallas, wants to build $10 billion, 400,000-barrel-a-day refinery near Elk Point, S. Dak. to turn Canadian crude into fuel for the thirsty U.S. gasoline market.

  John J. Curry, who grew up in Elk Point, moved to Philadelphia to attend Penn, and now runs Harvest Equities in Center City, figured his old neighbors could use a little professional help figuring out what a refinery would do to surrounding Union County (pop. 13,000), beyond the 4,000 construction jobs and 1,800 permanent jobs Hyperion expects.
  Curry hired William F. Connor, president of project manager Remington Group, of Wayne, and Lisa L. Thomas, vice president of land planners Glackin Thomas Panzak, of Paoli, to review Hyperion's plan.

 "I don't live there anymore, so it's not appropriate for me to tell them what to do. If they want a refinery, let them build a refinery," Curry said. But, he added, "Let them also have a review, like other places." 
  Connor's and Glackins's report asked how Union would pay for new emergency, law enforcement, school, road, medical, and social services before Hyperion's starts begins paying taxes. They pushed for details on water, drainage and pollution controls. And they urged language to protect the community's right to regulate the property if Hyperion wins permission but doesn't actually build.
  The recommendations "were very helpful to us," said Union commissioner Ross Jordan. The county is putting Hyperion's amended plan to a vote in the South Dakota primary on June 3. 
  And yes, Jordan says, he knows what refineries look like: He grew up in suburban Camden before moving west in the 1980s to run a country club.

   TD Bank Financial Group (NYSE: TD) formally completes its takeover of Cherry Hill's own Commerce Bancorp today.
   Canadian giant TD (short for Toronto Dominion) hasn't yet said who from the former Commerce and TD Banknorth (U.S. retail banking) management teams will do what in the merged retail banking operation, but TD's Bharat Masrani will be in overall command as president and CEO.
   Commerce may be the fastest-growing part of the amalgamation, but TD Banknorth is a lot larger. More details will come out before the planned April 21 conference call with investors, says Commerce spokesman David Flaherty. 

   Details on the April 21 call: 9 a.m. Eastern time: check TD's website at www.td.com/investor/earnings/jsp, or call 1-416-915-5762 or 1-800-594-3790 -- listen only, they're not taking questions from civilians.

  Sale prices for mid-sized businesses dropped to 6 times earnings (before income tax, depreciation and amortization) during the second half of last year, from 6.5 times during the first six months, Philadelphia deal professionals Andrew Greenberg (managing partner at Fairmount Partners) and Graeme Frazier (president, Private Capital Research LLC) said in a report today.
   Besides their day jobs, Frazier and Greenberg crunch data through their side business, GF Data Resources, which tracks private equity-backed mergers and acquisitions valued at $10 to $250 million.
  "Larger transactions have taken much more of a hit" since "the sub-prime cirsis emerged in early July and triggered econmic uncertainty and tighter credit," Greenberg said in a statement.  "Lenders were financing quality transactions, but beginning to extract better pricing after years of thin margins." Money's still available for "quality deals," with media and publishing getting some of the best prices; business services are among the lowest.
   UPDATE 3/31: M&A paydays down as deals dry up. Bloomberg has the story at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGDIGpFKILzM&refer=home.

  
 

  Builders, brokers and financiers testified on the slowdown in commercial real estate market at the RealShare conference in Center City this morning.
  "I like this market. We're back to fundamentals," Bill Glazer, president of Keystone Property Group. "Less than one year ago, everyone in the market was complaining bitterly that there was nothing to buy. The complaint today is that there's no money to buy with" as speculative financing dries up.
   Moderator Ken Balin, ceo of AMC Delancey Group Inc., asked the early morning panel, "Are the brokers in our region going on food stamps?"
  Earnings are down by half at publicly-traded commercial property brokers, noted Ward Fitzpatrick, senior managing principal at Exeter Property Group.
  Citing his late mentor, Liberty Property Trust founder Willard Rouse, he advised brokers to "do the deals that are nearest the cash register. Book those fees" before the customers get cold feet.
  Nationally, "supply and demand is out of balance," Fitzgerald added. "A lot of vacant buildings have been put up on the backs of pension funds." 
  But if building has slowed, Fitzgerald isn't predicting a property price collapse, either. Thanks to the Federal Reserve, interest rates are down, which takes pressure off indebted building owners, he said.
  Looking for bargains? Try the depressed Jersey Shore vacation home market, suggested Temple economist William Dunkelberg.
  The local market's "confused," with vacancies low but sales way down, said David Fahey, president of Binswanger's commercial division.
  "We have been hurt by economic conditions," but not as badly as other cities that overbuilt, said Robert Walters, senior managing director at CB Richard Ellis.

  Whoever wins November's presidential vote, health insurers and the contractors who sell them information technology expect to win big new contracts and revenues, says Ned Moore, chief executive officer at Portico Systems, a Blue Bell software company that helps health plans manage costs.
  That’s because the three main candidates – Republican McCain and Democrats Clinton and Obama – all say they support programs to insure more Americans.  “No matter who gets elected, you’re going to see some kind of legislation addressing that problem of 45 million people who don’t have coverage,” says Moore. 
  “We’re seeing a pretty clear acceptance by the market that something is going to happen with some kind of federal or hybrid state-federal program that will create products to get these people healthcare coverage,” he added. “That’s bipartisan,” and a big change from previous elections. “Five years ago we weren’t so sure the government should be controlling that much money. Those discussions have gone by the wayside after five years of healthcare spending increases and drops in company contribution levels. The idea is ‘We’re paying to care for the uninsured anyway. Let’s get the cost under control.’”
  Cost control sounds like a threat to many healthcare workers, but it's music to the ears of data crunchers whose services figure to be in demand.