Chamber Cites Shale in Valley’s Improved Economy
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber cites the leading role that drilling for oil and natural gas in the Utica shale has played in the recovery of the Mahoning Valley economy.
In its report released Monday, the chamber notes, “Since 2010, the Mahoning Valley and adjacent areas have seen nearly 4,000 direct and indirect jobs created from shale development and an investment of more than $5 billion.”
The president and CEO of the regional chamber, Thomas Humphries, says efforts to obtain the oil and gas have comprised roughly 20% of Valley economic activity, from building the stainless-steel pipe mills at Vallourec on the Youngstown-Girard border to the wells drilled throughout the region.
While the United States and the Valley continue to recover from the Great Recession, the local economy would not be anywhere nearly as healthy absent the oil and gas companies and their suppliers, Humphries told The Business Journal. The unemployment rate here at the worst of the Great Recession exceeded 13% and even today remains around 8%. Without oil and gas activity, the rate would be at least a point higher, he added.
Moreover, the jobs created, which require more training and technical skills, both pay better and are likely to provide job security for those who hold them. The increased productivity of the domestic economy has hindered the number of jobs but demand remains high for technical jobs and many remain unfilled for want of qualified applicants.
Those in the skilled-trades unions cannot meet the demand for technical jobs, Humphries pointed out. Business agents inform him that their memberships are working and they’re stepping up their efforts to recruit and train more apprentices.
The chamber has counted 25 job-creation and investment projects related to the oil and gas industry since 2010, Humphries said, when Vallourec announced it would build the stainless-steel pipe mill at the old Brier Hill mill once owned by the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co.
Vallourec spent more than $1 billion on the complex at the Brier Hill site that provides 350 jobs and another 1,800 related jobs.
The list of projects related to the oil and gas industry, based on the chamber’s analysis:
- 10 companies that announced supply chain or attraction projects.
- Six companies expanding or establishing new service operations for the industry.
- Five “significant pipeline/processing line projects.
- Four investments by oil and gas producing companies.
CLICK HERE to watch today’s “3 Minutes With” interview with Tom Humphries.
Copyright 2014 by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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