Chamber Expo Attracts Thousands to Meshoppen

Photos and Story by Rick Hiduk

Rigmaids, based in Williamsport with offices in Ohio and West Virginia were indicative of a new, creative level of support businesses for the natural gas industry. They met hundreds of prospective applicants on Wednesday at the Business, Job & Gas Expo held at the Wyoming County Campgrounds.

A vigorous job market along the cusp of the Marcellus shale in Wyoming County continues to spur growth in the area and ensured the success of the Business, Job & Gas Expo at the Kiwanis Fairgrounds near Meshoppen on April 30. According to Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Gina Getts, more than 2,000 people had come through the door by 3 pm. The Chamber presented the Expo along with three local energy powerhouses – Southwestern Energy, Williams, and Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation.

The variety of the 170 vendors showed how almost any sector of the local economy can benefit from a burgeoning industry if its proprietors and managers can create avenues and bridges to the gas industry. Some companies and agencies like Drill Baby Drill were on hand to help make make those connections.

Rigmaids, which provides cleaning services for living quarters and offices leased by gas-related companies operating in Ohio, West Virginia, and in Williamsport, PA was taking applications for people to fill local positions. Catering the Wright Way of Laceyville sets up and serves food at functions big and small for gas and pipeline companies.

Construction outfits and suppliers were well represented as were state and nonprofit agencies geared toward connecting qualified applicants with suitable positions and steering others toward training or resources that would lead them back to the work force.

Getts noted that more than half of the vendors were actively seeking employees. She estimated that some 500 jobs in skilled and unskilled labor were available that day, and the table space allotted to applicants was busy into late afternoon. In lieu of taking applications and resumes, several companies opted to pass out business cards and direct job seekers to their respective websites and application links therein.

“There’s been a lot of activity at our table,” said Shannon Spak of Williams, a midstream company that helps move natural gas from the wellhead to the pipeline. Williams was taking immediate applications for project managers and engineers, and the company will begin filling field positions this summer.

When asked what the driving force or recurring theme of this year’s Expo might be, many vendor representatives resoundingly said “truck drivers” in response.

“If you have a CDL Class A or B license in your pocket, you could go to work tomorrow,” said Pat Hoagland, a local Veterans Employment Representative for Career Link. He was sharing a table and a set of goals with Cully Kolakoski, the regional job developer for the Department of Labor & Industry. He related that one company alone was looking for 230 drivers.

Hoagland was pleased to report that interest in veterans among employers is very high.

Several of the vendor representatives, whose companies are not currently hiring, suggested that the Chamber’s annual Expo is as much a networking opportunity as it is a place to find a job.

“We are here to walk around and see the businesses we known and learn what they need,” said Beth Bevan of Taylor Rental and BX3 Oilfield Supply. Tunkhannock Store Manager Bob Pavlick added that the Expo and Fairgrounds provided the perfect venue for the company to exhibit its range of services.

The heavy concentration of so many related vendors could be a boon to suppliers, those offering specialized services., and those trying to help others find jobs.  “I’ve talked to more than twenty employers today,” Hoagland remarked. “It would have taken me two months to see that many people otherwise.”

Those who were hiring were pleased with attendance as well. Most who had brought application forms had run out of them. Rigmaids gave away 250 bottles of spray window cleaner with the company’s logo before noon.

Getts was pleased with the participation and the large number of people who came out to the fairgrounds on a cold, damp day. She said that vendors could expect a follow-up survey from the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce to allow them to share what they liked most about this year’s event and anything that could be done differently.

“We will be looking for feedback on what went well and what can be improved,” she stated.

 

The application booth staffed by Williams, a key sponsor of the event, was an active site as representatives liked (above, from left) Tammy Bonnice, Mike Atchie, and Shannon Spak answered questions about how the company was evolving and where employees would be needed first.

Many of the 170 vendors who took part in the Expo, like Bob Pablick and Beth Bevan of Taylor Rental and BX3 Oilfield Supply, seized the opportunity to collaborate with business associates at the Expo and display their services to potential customers.   

Room Tax Grants Allocated in Wyoming County

Photo and Story by Rick Hiduk

The Dietrich Theater and Wyoming County Cultural Center in Tunkhannock was the recipient of a 2014 room tax grant totaling $10,000. On Dec. 30, the Wyoming County Commissioners approved the disbursement of an additional $43,550 to local organizations via the Endless Mountains Visitors Bureau.

Competition was brisk, but nine non-profit agencies and one municipality in Wyoming County were among the recipients of grants from room tax fund, which was created by the state legislature about a decade ago to help the organizations promote their most important events outside the area.

Usage of the funds, which were also distributed in Bradford, Sullivan, and Susquehanna counties, is limited to marketing, special events and exhibits, way-finding (signage), or historical preservation.

“All of them have to be geared toward tourism and attracting people from outside a 50 mile radius,” noted Jean Ruhf, Executive Director of the Endless Mountains Visitors Bureau (EMVB), in reference to the applications submitted.

The Dietrich Theater and Wyoming County Cultural Center was one of four organizations to receive $10,000.

“We are trying to use the funds to not just bring people into the Dietrich Theater but to frequent our unique shops and stay in the area,” said Erica Rogler, the theater’s Cultural Programming Director.

In previous years, the cultural center applied for the funding with a specific event in mind – the annual film festival. County Commissioner Judy Mead noted that, this year, both the Dietrich and the Tunkhannock Area Business and Professionals Association (TBPA) were allocated funds to use at their discretion, so long as the organizations spend within the guidelines of the program.

In addition to spring and fall film festivals, Rogler related, portions of the grant will help the cultural center promote Shakespeare in the Park, which occurs in Lazybrook Park on the eve of Founders Day; River Day in Tunkhannock’s Riverside Park; and activities associated with the Airing of the Quilts in Tunkhannock in October.

“These grants are integral to our event success,” noted Nancy Parlo of TBPA, for which the program seems tailor-made. “TBPA exists to promote the greater Tunkhannock area for the benefit of area residents, businesses and visitors.”

TBPA events toward which portions of its $10,000 grant are earmarked include Founders Day in June and Wreaths Around Tunkhannock and Christmas in Our Hometown in December.

“A major component of hosting these annual events is promotion and advertising or other promotional efforts,” Parlo continued. “TBPA certainly would not have the success we have had without being able to advertise these activities regionally. As you can imagine, such advertising is quite costly. We are very grateful to again be the recipient of these funds.”

The Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce procured a first-time $4,000 grant to advertise the agency’s 2014 Shop Chamber contest. According to Executive Director Gina Getz, the Chamber is working with WBRE TV and Blue Ridge Communications to promote the relatively new contest, which encourages Christmas shopping at Chamber-member businesses for the chance to win one of two $500 prizes. Getz is hopeful that the funds will enable the Chamber to also pay for advertising in magazines. Local sponsorships then cover the costs of the actual gift certificates that are awarded.

“We are helping the business, who are very happy to participate,” Getz remarked. Each $500 prize can be divvied up at the winner’s discretion among as many as five member businesses. “It’s very flexible.”

“These grants are intended to get ‘heads into beds,’” said Ruhf, noting that efficient use of the funding fosters a self-sustaining cycle of even more guests in local hotels. Each participating county collects a three percent room tax. The grants are then managed by local visitors bureaus, which retain 70 percent of the grand total for promoting respective regions as a whole to potential visitors from other states or other regions within Pennsylvania.

Commissioner Mead, who is on the Wyoming County Room Tax Committee, noted that requests for funding were nearly double what they were the previous year.

Entities in Wyoming County to receive funding, in addition to the aforementioned include the Kiwanis Wyoming County Fair, $10,000; the North Branch Land Trust, $10,000 for upgrades at the Howland Preserve at Vosburg Neck in Washington Township, including construction of an ADA-compliant restroom; Nicholson Borough, $3,350 for new signage; Keystone College, $2,500 for promotion of Christy Matthewson Days; Wyoming County Room Tax Committee, $2,000; Keystone College, $1,000 for a concert and lecture; and The Oldest House in Laceyville, $700.

Directors of non-profit organizations in Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming Counties who conduct events or have preservation projects on tap that would benefit from external marketing can download an application for next year’s grants at www.endlessmountains.org.