The Northwestern Pennsylvania Showcase for the Marcellus Shale Initiative will take place in Titusville, a town that prides itself on being the birthplace of the modern oil industry.
The showcase will feature presentations on opportunities Marcellus Shale drilling presents for the region’s workers and how existing businesses can take advantage of the emerging sector. There will also be discussions about land ownership and environmental issues relevant to drilling.
The event is geared toward workforce development officials and those who run vocational education programs, says Bradford R. Ehrhart, executive director of the Clarion County Economic Development Corporation. Teachers, landowners and interested businesspeople are also invited.
Lance Hummer, executive director of the Keystone Community Education Council, says people with technical, legal and computer skills will be needed before and after drilling starts. The industry presents jobs for surveyors, derrick operators, geologists and a variety of other professionals.
Marcellus drilling could also mean opportunities to use existing gas transmission lines and storage that already exist in the area, says Deb Lutz, local industry manager for the Oil Region Alliance of Business Industry & Tourism.
“It’s going to be a major boon for our region,” Ehrhart says, adding that Clarion County’s unemployment rate was 10.4 percent in July. “We’re in need of a boost.”
Sources: Bradford R. Ehrhart, Clarion County Economic Development Corporation; Lance Hummer, Keystone Community Education Council; Deb Lutz, Oil Region Alliance of Business Industry & Tourism
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen