Happy holidays from the S. Dale High Center for Family Business

Opportunities in Marcellus Shale 'Play' for PA Family Businesses

Where is the Marcellus Shale footprint?

It has been called the greatest single business development of our lifetimes, one that is expected to influence the business landscape in Pennsylvania for the next 50-100 years.

It refers to the development related to drilling for natural gas within Marcellus Shale, the second-largest gas find in the world. In fact, experts from Fulton Bank and Clermont Wealth Strategies believe that in five to seven years, Pennsylvania could be the largest exporter of natural gas in the world.

• An estimated 200-250,000 wells will be drilled;
• 9,500 permits have been issued to date;
• 2,000-3,000 wells will be drilled a year; and
• Gas companies will spend $4-5 million per well for site prep, construction, transportation, waste management, and $1 million per mile for pipeline development.

Business development opportunities that banking experts identified as significant areas for growth by industry include excavation, hotels/hospitality, lumber, trucking, catering, metal fabricating, landscaping, engineering, environmental, feed mills, car dealers, jewelry stores, and legal services.

So how does a Central Pennsylvania business outside the Marcellus Shale footprint obtain business in the region. Experts recommended that your business development officers begin networking now with those companies who are hiring contractors and providers of good and services.

Attend vendor/business expos in the region, meet people. If you have a particular expertise in one of the key business areas mentioned earlier, make sure you are meeting people who know your company can do.

If Marcellus Shale development were a baseball game, we would only be in the first inning. With the investment of tried and true business development practices, that's plenty of time to step up to the plate, hit that home run, and run the bases.