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Steel Building Manufacturer Hits it Big in the Marcellus

A small regional company that builds steel buildings, located in western PA, has rocketed from the minor to the major leagues in their industry. Steel Nation Inc. is now ranked as the 11th largest metal building construction company in the country–thanks to the Marcellus Shale.

Steel Nation’s story is interesting, and instructive, for those looking to crack into the shale supply chain. It’s a story of creativity and determination…
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Want to Plug in to the Marcellus Industry? These Groups Can Help

For individuals living in Greater Pittsburgh looking for a job in the drilling industry, or companies looking to break into the Marcellus Shale supply chain, the Pittsburgh Business Times published a helpful list of organizations (and their websites) that may be able to give you an assist with your pursuit…
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NE PA Audience Hears How to Plug in to the Marcellus Supply Chain

The Marcellus means jobs and an economic boom for northeast Pennsylvania. That was the message delivered yesterday in Wilkes-Barre at a Marcellus forum hosted by State Sen. John Yudichak and State Sen. John Blake (both from the Scranton/W-B area). The forum was attended by over 100 people–local contractors, trade unions, small manufacturers and others. MDN friend John Augustine from the Marcellus Shale Coalition was one of the featured speakers, with lots of good tips for those who want to plug in to the Marcellus supply chain.

The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader was on hand and filed this helpful report:
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The Important Role of Engineering/Construction Firms in Shale

Engineering and construction firms play a big and important role in the shale drilling industry. If you ever attend a trade show, like the top-notch Shale Insight event hosted by the Marcellus Shale Coalition, and walk around the exhibition area, there are a LOT of engineering and construction companies with booths. And rightfully so–because without them drilling and the associated work (clearing sites, constructing buildings, installing pipelines, siting compressor plants, etc.) would not get done.

Uber big consulting firm PricewatershouseCoopers (PwC) recently released a “report” (i.e. white paper) that discusses how engineering and construction companies can successfully help deliver shale oil and gas products at quicker speeds and lower costs through integrated project planning. That is, PwC is trying to drum up some business. If you’re an engineering/construction company, they can show you a way to do it better, by using their high-priced consultants. 🙂 Still, the white paper has a few useful points to make, and so we pass it along to you…
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Drilling-Related Manufacturer Brings 150 Jobs to Trumbull County

Another huge positive economic impact from Marcellus/Utica Shale drilling is coming to eastern Ohio. Legacy Measurement Solutions Inc. of Addison, TX, a manufacturer of measurement equipment used in the oil and natural gas industry, is setting up a new 73,000 square foot plant in Trumbull County, OH early next year. The plant will “ramp up slowly” but will eventually employ 150 people. This is seriously good news for Brookfield, where the plant will be located, and Trumbull County in general.

More jobs, more tax revenues–it’s an economic boomlet from just one company…
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3 More Wastewater Injection Wells on the Way in Trumbull County

A small Ohio conventional natural gas drilling/excavating company is getting new life and expanding thanks to the Utica Shale. Kleese Development has applied to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) to re-purpose several vertical wells to be injection wells. Three older conventional natural gas wells located in Trumbull County, OH–on U.S. Route 422 near Templeton Road–will be converted to shale frack wastewater injection wells if the ODNR approves the project.

If the ODNR does approve the project, frack wastewater won’t be the only thing injected in Trumbull County. The company is also injecting money and jobs into the local economy…

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A New Marcellus Pipe Manufacturing Plant Comes to…New York???

Maddening? Yes. Startling? True. Teeth-gritting? You bet. Ironic and mystifying? Supremely so.

A Middle Eastern company has just announced they will invest $102 million to build a factory in South Buffalo, NY that will employ 170 people making steel pipes for the…wait for it…shale drilling industry. And who should plant his mug right in the middle of this announcement to take credit for the investment and jobs it will bring to the state? Gov. Andy Cuomo–the man who can’t decide whether or not he’ll approve fracking in New York. You can see why we’re having such a conflicted and mixed(-up) reaction…
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OH Company Turns Drill Cuttings into Clean Fill Dirt in 24 Hours

An intriguing supply chain story that caught MDN’s eye: An Ohio company has figured out a way to speed up the work of Mother Nature in decomposing the nasty stuff that contaminates “drill cuttings”–the rock and soil left over from drilling natural gas or oil wells. Drill cuttings are typically hauled off to a landfill where it takes Mother Nature hundreds (sometimes thousands) of years to fully break down the chemicals (naturally and not-naturally occurring) in drill cuttings.

Ohio Soil Recycling greatly speeds up the natural process and turns drill cuttings into soil suitable for use as “clean fill dirt” in as little as 24 hours!…
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MN Construction Company Puts Down Roots in PA Marcellus

A Minnesota-based construction management company is expanding in Washington County, PA in order to plug into the Utica and Marcellus Shale drilling supply chain. Fagen, Inc. offers cranes, tools, storage and expertise with projects across the oil and gas field including pipeline gathering systems, storage and even construction of processing plants.

Fagen’s announcement about the new Houston, PA operation:
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Supply Chain Success: From Roller Coasters to Marcellus Well Pads

What do roller coasters and Marcellus drilling sites have in common? It seems they have more in common than you might imagine.

MDN never ceases to be amazed at the ingenuity of America’s small businesses. The latest small business to amaze us is a custom plastics manufacturer in Montoursville, PA–Ralph S. Alberts Co–known for making plastic replacement parts for amusement park rides. Lately, the company has retooled the same plastic products used for amusement parks to be used as impregnable barriers at well pad sites. How cool (and innovative) is that?…
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MSC Releases Annual Marcellus Job/Workforce Survey

What types of companies in the Marcellus/Utica Shale region are hiring? What types of jobs are they hiring for? And where are they hiring? Those are just some of the answers you’ll find in the latest annual membership survey from the Marcellus Shale Coalition (copy of survey results embedded below). In addition to those questions, the survey also addresses which functions and services drillers outsourced (pay attention supply chain companies!), and which positions were hardest to fill (pay attention job seekers!).

The press release announcing and summarizing the survey results:
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BP’s Utica Shale Drilling in Trumbull County, OH Heats Up

An article in the Warren, OH Tribune Chronicle is interesting for two reasons: The first is that it highlights how when a local business (VEC Inc.) gets plugged in to the shale supply chain with just a single driller, it can radically change the fortunes of that company; and second, the article indicates the driller in question (BP) has just handed out contracts for their first four well sites with plans to drill up to 2,000 Utica Shale wells–all in Trumbull County, OH.

It seems like it took BP a long time to get going (see Better Late than Never: BP Gets First Permit for OH Utica), but now that they’ve started…watch out! Business in the gas fields of Trumbull County is about to get real busy…
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Washington County, PA Hotelier Adapts to Serve Drilling Industry

Anyone who lives in shale country can tell you one of the first signs that drilling either is, or is about to, impact an area’s economy, is full restaurants and busy hotels/motels. Shale field workers need a place to eat and a place to sleep. How these businesses–specifically hotels– respond is instructive for all businesses that would like to sell to the industry, i.e., plug in to the supply chain.

A recent story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette does a good job of covering someone MDN has highlighted before: hotel and motel owner Tejas Gosai, in Washington County, PA (see these two MDN stories). From when Gosai’s hotels serve breakfast, to outdoor boot washers, to checking for bed bugs–the way Gosai has responded to and adapted “regular” hotels to serve the Marcellus drilling industry is instructive for other hotels, and for other businesses to follow as an example:
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Businesses in Marcellus/Utica: New Way to Access Supply Chain

Businesses in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region looking to plug in to the drilling supply chain now have a new way to do so. A company called ShaleMarkets.com has just launched a Buyer Sourcing Application which they describe as somewhat similar to a reverse auction–with some important differences. Drillers or other companies in the supply chain post the products/services they want to buy, along with a list of preferred vendors, to the system. ShaleMarkets.com will then contact those vendors and other vendors in the network, not revealing the buyer’s identity, to elicit bids and pass them back to the buyer for a final selection.

Here’s the ShaleMarkets.com announcement detailing the new service and how it works:
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Drilling Supply Chain Businesses “Popping Up” in OH & PA

More tales of how Utica/Marcellus drilling leads to new businesses moving in to an area (or starting up), which leads to new jobs, new sources of tax revenue and an overall economic boost.

These two latest reports come from (1) St. Clairsville, in Belmont County, OH (close to Wheeling, WV), and (2) northeast PA (near Scranton). Businesses related to the drilling supply chain–from clothing supply stores to construction companies to railroad transloading facilities–are “popping up” all over the Utica and Marcellus. Perhaps their stories will inspire you and your business to get involved with the drilling supply chain…
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