Franklin-based Eco-Energy said Monday it has signed a marketing agreement with Minnesota ethanol producer Corn Plus Ethanol. The North Star State cooperative can produce up to 49 million gallons of ethanol annually.

UPDATE 1:05 p.m.: The parties have struck a tentative deal settling part of their dispute and have until Jan. 28 to deal with other matters.

Retailers of all stripes could soon face some serious logistical headaches courtesy of a looming strike by 15,000 workers at East Coast ports. The International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance haven't been able to hammer out a new contract after months of talks. The potential impact of their impasse has some people calling for presidential intervention.

President George W. Bush was the last president to invoke the act. In 2002, he ended a lockout that closed West Coast ports for 10 days. That shutdown cost the U.S. economy $1 billion a day and resulted in supply-chain disruptions that lingered for more than six months, according to the NRF.

Panattoni Development's Beckwith Farms project in Mt. Juliet is in the hunt for a 700,000-square-foot expansion project at global logistics giant Ceva, a move that would bring with it more than 400 jobs. If Ceva makes the call, Panattoni will fill the space between its current buildings with a new structure for the company. Getahn Ward writes that the deal also could involve the transfer of almost 500 people who had worked for Dell until the computer maker outsourced its fulfillment operations to Ceva.

Two weeks ago, the Wilson County Commission’s budget committee also proposed a six-year break on taxes on the land, building and equipment inside, which took into account additional sales tax revenue, a projected growth in home sales and any spin-off jobs that would be created by the move.