Tapping the Utica shale deep under the ground for its projected vast supplies of natural gas and liquids is still in the early stages in Ohio.
Businesses seeking to capitalize on the burgeoning shale industry can go to a conference Monday at Firestone Country Club in Akron to learn how to become part of the supply chain.
“It’s a game changer for us,” said Steve Franckhauser, one of the presenters at the 15th Northeast Ohio Logistics Conference. “It’s so different from what we’ve experienced. The resource is already here. The demand is worldwide. Wealth is generated here and stays here.”
Franckhauser is the director of HbK Energy in Boardman. HbK Energy is a division of accounting and financial services firm Hill, Barth & King.
“This area is at the epicenter of everything,” Franckhauser said.
Monday’s conference is sponsored by the Northeast Ohio Trade & Economic Consortium at Kent State University and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority. The program will provide an overview of the regional impact of shale and will look at how different modes of transportation serve the Utica shale industry, organizers and sponsors said.
The conference will help people understand the fundamental criteria driving Utica shale development, Franckhauser said.
Rick Lolli, an attorney with the new downtown Akron office of Pittsburgh-based law firm Babst Calland, said the conference will provide networking opportunities. Babst Calland, a sponsor of Monday’s conference, opened its Akron office in June because of the expected Utica shale development.
Babst Calland represents people and businesses developing shale resources, not landowners, he said. Clients include trucking companies and other businesses that service and build wells, he said.
“The underlying theme of the conference is the supply chain,” Lolli said. “It will give you a chance to meet the people active in the Utica shale in the area.”
The bulk of the drilling and related development will be done south of Akron, Lolli said. But businesses in the Greater Akron and Cleveland areas should still be able to capitalize on shale development, he said.
Besides Franckhauser, scheduled speakers and presenters are Chip Collier and Rich Plewacki, partners in the transportation law division of Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff, Columbus and Cleveland; Ken Prendergast, executive director of Cleveland-based All Aboard Ohio-RESTORE; and Joe Leto, president of Energy Analysts International Inc. of Denver. There will be a panel discussion with questions and answers after the morning presentations.
The program starts at 7:45 a.m. with a continental breakfast. Following lunch and golf, there will be a 6 p.m. dinner. Registration deadline is Wednesday. Cost is $125 for the breakfast, conference and lunch only; $275 for the entire day. NEOTEC members pay $95 for the full day. For information, go to www.neotec.org or call 800-793-0912.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.
