Morrisville readies to train natural gas drilling workforce
NORWICH – A meeting scheduled next week at Morrisville State College to discuss a new academic program of study that would train workers for jobs within the natural gas industry couldn’t come soon enough for Chenango County Economic Development Consultant Steven Palmatier.
With the prospect of hundreds of new jobs for Southern Tier workers within the next three to five years, the college is being encouraged to prepare a workforce, he said.
Many natural gas industry followers are predicting a June release date for the state’s revised hydrofracking regulations. Energy companies and their suppliers have been waiting in the wings for 18 months for the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement to be released.
The statement of regulations will allow companies to begin developing the abundant Marcellus and Utica formations in the region, and if it’s anything like what happened when the Marcellus Shale action began heating up two years ago in neighboring Pennsylvania, there will be hundreds of jobs available at well sites within the first 18 months.
“In four years from June, we are going to need a natural gas industry workforce here,” said Palmatier. “There’s no other industry here where you are going to need that kind of employment.”
Morrisville State College’s Norwich Campus Director Marsha L. Cornelius said an advisory panel would meet to create a needs assessment statement, the first step in establishing a training course. The course would most likely be a two-year program with the possibility of becoming four-year.
As evidenced by the professions represented on the advisory panel, Morrisville’s proposal is being taken very seriously. Panel members include Bruce Selleck, HO Whitnall Professor of Geology, Colgate University; Stuart Loewenstein, a geophysist and President of Exploration and Development, Norse Energy Inc.; David Palmerton, president, Palmerton Group, an environmental engineering firm; Darryl Hood, director of North American recruiting for Schlumberger; and Brad Gill, executive director, Independent Oil and Gas Associates.
With a handful of multinational oil and gas companies poised to drill anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 sites in Broome County, interest in Chenango’s shale and other producing strata continues. The Norwegian company, Norse Energy, is currently drilling in Smyrna and has plans to drill at a site in Preston next month. There are already 80 wells here now, and the company has leased property at about 1,800 sites.
Each well demands 11.5 direct jobs and involves 410 individuals in 150 different occupations. Jobs have been identified in the following occupations: local contracting, stone and prep materials providers, welding, pipeline construction, surveyors, water hauling, brine water redemption, attorneys, catering, warehousing, and real estate.
Morrisville State College’s Norwich branch added three academic programs last year: early childhood, human services and criminal justice. Cornelius told county lawmakers that the new programs, in addition to increased engagement with area high school students and guidance counselors; the addition of faculty; and an overall upswing in public recognition of the campus through open houses and other community events led to increased enrollment this past fall.
The number of students enrolled at the Norwich campus for the fall semester, 515, is up by about a dozen from the fall of 2008. It is one of the highest enrollments since the institution opened its doors in 2006.
At least one local company is already profiting from Norse Energy Inc.’s drilling activity in Chenango County. A nearly 6 foot deep, 2 inch thick concrete foundation liner is needed at every well site, and Stanley Barrows of Barrows Wells Drilling and Septic of Preston has been manufacturing about two of them per week for Norse.
“It’s helped our business get through the winter, definitely,” said company owner Stanley Barrows. “It’s been rough because of the economy over the last couple of years.”
The company’s division, called Preston Precast, has been making cellars for Norse, and also manufacturers concrete septic tanks, distribution boxes and risers for tanks.
Barrows said his company has also subcontracted dump trucks to haul materials for the gas company.
With the prospect of hundreds of new jobs for Southern Tier workers within the next three to five years, the college is being encouraged to prepare a workforce, he said.
Many natural gas industry followers are predicting a June release date for the state’s revised hydrofracking regulations. Energy companies and their suppliers have been waiting in the wings for 18 months for the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement to be released.
The statement of regulations will allow companies to begin developing the abundant Marcellus and Utica formations in the region, and if it’s anything like what happened when the Marcellus Shale action began heating up two years ago in neighboring Pennsylvania, there will be hundreds of jobs available at well sites within the first 18 months.
“In four years from June, we are going to need a natural gas industry workforce here,” said Palmatier. “There’s no other industry here where you are going to need that kind of employment.”
Morrisville State College’s Norwich Campus Director Marsha L. Cornelius said an advisory panel would meet to create a needs assessment statement, the first step in establishing a training course. The course would most likely be a two-year program with the possibility of becoming four-year.
As evidenced by the professions represented on the advisory panel, Morrisville’s proposal is being taken very seriously. Panel members include Bruce Selleck, HO Whitnall Professor of Geology, Colgate University; Stuart Loewenstein, a geophysist and President of Exploration and Development, Norse Energy Inc.; David Palmerton, president, Palmerton Group, an environmental engineering firm; Darryl Hood, director of North American recruiting for Schlumberger; and Brad Gill, executive director, Independent Oil and Gas Associates.
With a handful of multinational oil and gas companies poised to drill anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 sites in Broome County, interest in Chenango’s shale and other producing strata continues. The Norwegian company, Norse Energy, is currently drilling in Smyrna and has plans to drill at a site in Preston next month. There are already 80 wells here now, and the company has leased property at about 1,800 sites.
Each well demands 11.5 direct jobs and involves 410 individuals in 150 different occupations. Jobs have been identified in the following occupations: local contracting, stone and prep materials providers, welding, pipeline construction, surveyors, water hauling, brine water redemption, attorneys, catering, warehousing, and real estate.
Morrisville State College’s Norwich branch added three academic programs last year: early childhood, human services and criminal justice. Cornelius told county lawmakers that the new programs, in addition to increased engagement with area high school students and guidance counselors; the addition of faculty; and an overall upswing in public recognition of the campus through open houses and other community events led to increased enrollment this past fall.
The number of students enrolled at the Norwich campus for the fall semester, 515, is up by about a dozen from the fall of 2008. It is one of the highest enrollments since the institution opened its doors in 2006.
At least one local company is already profiting from Norse Energy Inc.’s drilling activity in Chenango County. A nearly 6 foot deep, 2 inch thick concrete foundation liner is needed at every well site, and Stanley Barrows of Barrows Wells Drilling and Septic of Preston has been manufacturing about two of them per week for Norse.
“It’s helped our business get through the winter, definitely,” said company owner Stanley Barrows. “It’s been rough because of the economy over the last couple of years.”
The company’s division, called Preston Precast, has been making cellars for Norse, and also manufacturers concrete septic tanks, distribution boxes and risers for tanks.
Barrows said his company has also subcontracted dump trucks to haul materials for the gas company.
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