Earlier this year, ABCD Corp. in cooperation with the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, hosted an educational event for regional businesses addressing key topics related to accessing and working in the Utica and Marcellus Shale Plays.
Nearly 100 attendees attended the event held at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, PA to learn from experts on a number of topics. Drew Cowley representing Chevron discussed in detail how regional companies can access opportunities through their supplier procurement program. Chevron is looking for local businesses to work in their supply chain, “We want to find a way you can help us and we can help you and grow your business,” Cowley said. “We are looking for
companies that provide high quality goods and services.”
Matt Henderson and Jim Ladlee from the PSU Marcellus Center for Outreach & Research, spoke about trends and outlook for the industry in 2013 as well as the intricacies of working in the oil and gas supply chain. “There are opportunities for prepared companies to access the supply chain,” stated Ladlee. “These opportunities will be long term with the Marcellus and Utica, and there are exploratory activities in PA right now on five shale plays.”
Attendees were also provided information on critical areas of working within the industry including safety and insurance as well as marketing. Joe Barone from ShaleDirectories.com provided detailed information and suggestions on making the most of your marketing within this specific industry. Understanding the intricacies of this diverse market means that you have to understand the specific person your are contacting and that consistency and repetition are key.
This event was the culmination of the Blair County Marcellus Coalition and a number of meetings to determine some key issues needed to assist our local and regional companies. “We need to look at what we can do as a region to continue to inform our businesses and companies about the substantial economic opportunities that will be around for a number of years,” said Marty Marasco, President/CEO of ABCD Corp.
For those that were unable to attend the event, all of the presentations can be found online at www.blairalliance.org/marcellus
ABCD Corp. is continuing to work with the regional coalition as well as state organizations to determine the next event to be held here in the Blair County region. If you would like to be included in Blair County’s efforts please contact Matt Fox at mattf@blairalliance.org or call our offices at 814-944-6113.
