Economic activity in the Marcellus Shale footprint has seen a change in the past decade with shale development taking place.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (L&I) works to track this activity and releases monthly Marcellus Shale Fast Facts.
There has also been a need for workforce training with the shale industry entering the picture. This month’s shale webinar, “Industry Workforce and Training”, will feature James Martini, an economist with the state Department of L&I and John Strittmatter, regional hub director, and Daniel Mendell, instructor, with Pennsylvania College of Technology/ShaleNET, who will discuss the workforce trends and training needs of this industry.
How is information obtained in the Fast Facts, and what are the industry’s trends, employment figures, and wages as well as those of ancillary services? Martini states, “Understanding these data allows informed decisions to be made on the allocation of limited training dollars to maximize impacts to Pennsylvania’s economy.”
As the industry continues to grow in the Marcellus and diversify from upstream to midstream/downstream operations, and as advancements in technology continue to occur, how are workers being trained to handle the ever-changing nature of the industry? What skill sets do employers need, and how will these needs change over time? Where are new workers being found, and how are they being trained? These questions and more will be answered by Strittmatter and Mendell.
“Finding and developing a skilled workforce remains a critical issue for natural gas and oil employers,” Strittmatter said. “It affects all aspects of business from safety to profitability.
“When successful, all stand to benefit – the employer, the community, and the individual. Dan and I will share our experiences from working in this industry and how those experiences can apply to offering successful training programs for oil and natural gas employers.”
The educational webinar will run from 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. Thursday. Penn State Extension’s Marcellus Education Team provides monthly webinars on a variety of topics. Upcoming webinars for 2014 include:
- Aug 21, Natural Gas Processing and Effects on Royalty Income Streams, Steven Karabin, president and chief executive officer of The Rhino Group;
- Sept 18, to be announced;
- Oct. 16, The Bakken Part 1: History and Challenges of Current Oil and Gas Development, Vision West ND; and
- Nov 20, The Bakken Part 2: Responding to the Challenges and Planning for the
- Future, Vision West ND.
The webinars are free, but participants must register on the events page of the Penn State Extension Natural Gas Web site.
The site also offers information about upcoming webinars. It is important that registrants provide an email address to receive the link to the upcoming webinar.
For more information, contact Carol Loveland at 570-320-4429 or by email at cal24@psu.edu.