Darke County Economic Development...
Shale Industry Could Produce Local Opportunity
Stegall and Bowers learn about supply chain opportunities for local business  
May 10, 2012 

CAMBRIDGE, OH- As Ohio’s shale energy initiative picks up speed, as well as the economy surrounding the industry, opportunities to benefit from the emerging industry are increasing across the state and region. To learn more about how Darke County businesses can benefit from this potential multi-billion dollar industry, Darke County Commissioner Mike Stegall and Greenville Mayor Mike Bowers represented the county’s Partnering for Progress initiative recently at the Ohio Shale Energy 2012 Conference: Discovering Supply Chain Opportunities. 

According to Stegall, discovering opportunity is exactly what the pair did.  The commissioner returned to Darke County and immediately approached a number of local companies about the roles they might play in the industry’s supply chain. 

“It’s such a huge undertaking that there’s almost no business that can’t potentially be a part of the shale industry’s supply chain,” explained Stegall. “This show helped connect the dots for potential suppliers to become part of the process.  For those that do, that obviously means growth and jobs for their home counties.” 

Those attending the event, held in Cambridge at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership, received firsthand advice and industry information from more than 20 top global corporations and were able to network with industry leaders to make the right connections to grow business. 

According to Stegall, economic studies forecast that there will be plenty of opportunity to spread around. 

“According to what we learned at the conference, this could generate over $500 million dollars a year in extra revenue to the State by 2014. If a company’s wants to get involved, there will be a website where companies can explain what services they can provide to the industry,” he explained.  

Stegall stated that any companies that are interested, regardless of size, should go online to OhioShaleEnergy.com and complete a survey. Those that do will be entered into a data base at the Voinovich School at Ohio University for oil companies to access.  Those interested can also keep up with news and events related to Ohio’s shale, oil, and gas initiatives by going to ShaleOhio.com 

Representatives from Partnering for Progress (P4P), Darke County’s collaborative public/private economic development initiative, are present at events throughout the state that hold potential benefit for the county and its businesses whenever attendance is possible.  To learn more about P4P, become a member, or otherwise get involved with the effort, please call the Economic Development Office at 548-3250.