Johnny Williams
Freelance Journalist
Natural gas development in Pennsylvania is attracting significant employment and business opportunities now and for the foreseeable future – in shale.
There has been little doubt in the way of businesses either being created or moving into the area due to the Marcellus Shale. Several large exploration and production (E&P) companies have set up shop in the state with the desire to remain in the area for a long time and, as a result, smaller businesses have either followed them or have been created to meet the demand.
Because of natural gas, Pennsylvania has become a hotspot for new business opportunities, especially in the southwestern corner of the state, according to NerdWallet, a personal finance site.
The organization’s study looked at 145 communities in Pennsylvania with a population of at least 5,000, and then used information from U.S. Census Bureau to calculate a score to gauge a community’s attractiveness to new businesses.
One of the key takeaways of the study that should not come as a surprise to those already in the natural gas industry is that four out of the top ten places to start a business in Pennsylvania are near Pittsburgh, one of the most active locations for Marcellus Shale development.
“Pittsburgh has achieved employment growth year over year, and consistently experiences statistical increases in gross domestic product. Top industries in the area include manufacturing, education, health services and mining, due to the natural gas reserves of the Marcellus shale formation.”
The top place to start a business, according to NerdWallet, is West Mifflin, approximately 12 miles outside of Pittsburgh. While Borough Manager Brian Kamauf said that there haven’t been many Marcellus-related business opportunities created in town, there have been indirect benefits in the form of hotels and he welcomes any business that wants to set up shop in Pennsylvania.
“I think it’s still in its infancy, but there are signs of it,” he said, highlighting some of the advantages that West Mifflin presents. “We have large industrial space available and we’re lucky to have our location that gives quick access to the city and to have the (Allegheny County) Airport and U.S. Steel. We have programs in place for our industrial and commercially zoned areas to attract new businesses and revitalize West Mifflin.”
Uniontown ranks in at number five on NerdWallet’s list, and is home to Fayette CNG Inc. as well as the Westmoreland County Community College, which created the 73,500 square foot Advanced Technology Center to help train students for jobs in energy, including Natural Gas & Oil, Petroleum Technology and Pipeline Mechanics.
Greensburg and Latrobe rounded out the four southwestern Pennsylvania communities on the study’s list, but if you were to make an exception and include number 11 from the list, you’d find Bradford County’s Sayre as a great place to start a business, despite there not being a city nearly as large as Pittsburgh nearby to draw from. Indeed, from several new chain hotels such as Microtel and Candlewood to small businesses such as REM Security, Sayre has become one of the go-to communities in the northeast Marcellus for business opportunities.
Westmoreland County Community College’s pipeline mechanics training
While the study states that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Pennsylvania after recovering from the recession, boasting the lowest unemployment rate in seven years, it is not without its challenges.
“The corporate income tax is higher than in most states, and businesses must navigate a difficult permitting and regulatory system to get up and running. But Pennsylvania works to encourage entrepreneurs through state-funded resources such as regional outposts for Small Business Development Centers and Partnerships for Regional Economic Performance as well as programs made available through Ben Franklin Technology Partners.”
And now on top of that, Pennsylvania has a governor that wants to enact a severance tax to discourage business growth even more. While on paper the severance tax would affect only gas companies, the trickle-down effect will undoubtedly reach smaller businesses.
Nevertheless, attracting new businesses remains a key goal for Pennsylvania communities as they try to take advantage of natural gas opportunities.
“We understand business and encourage it,” Kamauf said. “West Mifflin has lots of small businesses but we’re a large community. It’s a good place to start a business; the trend is there and we want to secure that future.”
