HUGHESVILLE - The entrepreneurial spirit was alive Saturday at the Central Susquehanna Oil and Gas Expo at the Lycoming County Fairgrounds.
About 200 startup and established businesses catering to the needs of workers in the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling and oil well industries networked with each other and visitors at the free event.
Unique business opportunities exist with gas companies and couples such as Chef Richard Hoschar and his wife Ann House are happy to oblige.
The Williamsport couple started Chef Ann Hosch Catering Kitchen Design.
"I've already been to a drill site about 40 miles from Towanda and served New York strip steak," Hoschar said.
At the expo, Hoschar prepared batches of jambalaya - cooking fresh, clean shrimp, andouille sausage, rice and vegetables in olive oil in a pan.
The catering business is one of those essential companies that well drillers could appreciate.
Hoschar and House said they plan to use mobile kitchens built into trailers to travel site to site, providing chefs to provide workers at Marcellus Shale sites with three square meals per day.
"Cash, or credit card for a meal," House said. "Ancillary workers, such as fuel delivery truck drivers, also will be able to be nourished," she said.
"It's important to provide these workers with nutritious meals to keep them operating at their full potential, with higher protein ingredients and if it tastes good it keeps their morale up," she said.
The couple also is going to provide a van with a fully functional commercial kitchen for special events.
"Gas workers like to celebrate special anniversaries and parties," House said. "We want to be able to provide that opportunity for them."
The next step will be to develop menus in conjunction with whoever hires the caterers.
Then, there's cleanup issues.
What to do with messy living quarters and office buildings is being handled by upstart businesses such as Rigmaids, a janitorial service with a motto: "Cleaning Big on the Rig."
Rigmaids field manager Missy Palmer said the employees work hard and the last thing they want to do is come home to a dirty trailer.
"We're fully insured," said David Plfeegor II, owner of the Muncy-based company which is getting the word out based on service and over the Internet.
Ten-gallon hard hats
Craig Ferringer of the Mansfield office of Fastenal sported what appeared to be a jet black cowboy hat of the Stetson variety. But upon closer inspection the hat was actually made of rock solid material designed to withstand blunt force trauma to the head.
"It's a hard hat just like on construction sites," Ferringer said. The look was just what a Texan in the backwoods of Pennsylvania might desire as he plugs away, the wide brim excellent for keeping sun out of the eyes, he said.
He demonstrated another type of tool, an indexable and extendable pry bar, that could replace the outdated crowbar variety
The hook portion can be moved to any angle, giving the operator better leverage than a standard crow bar. Brad Herrold, a company spokesman, said. More leverage means more power and fewer injuries on site, such as to the back or shoulders, he added.
A lot has been made about the condition of the ground. Erosion blankets, large rolls of materials provide protection and sediment control for desired ground on the plot, and are available at Elery W. Nau Inc., a hardware store in Montoursville.
Paul Early, a store spokesman, said these large blanket rolls are being used by those laying pipeline, contractors, landscapers and homeowners.
The expo featured dozens of booths with companies in the financial, medical support and equipment industries.
Pennsylvania State University engineering students who built a tractor from scratch could use the equipment that is available at Logue Industries, Montoursville.
On display was a flange, created by use of a water jet cutter, a device that uses a combination of water and abrasive sand at 50,000-per-square-inch power to cut either steel, aluminum, carbon and stone.
The device can carve letters in the material and holes into inch-thick equipment, skipping several other time-consuming processes.
The expo which was held in perfect weather until about 2 p.m. when showers hit the region - was accomplished by the work of a planning committee. The committee consisted of: Matt Henderson, chairman and business consultant with Lock Haven Small Business Development Center; Carol Loveland, energy development and special projects with the Penn State Extension in Lycoming County; Danielle Boston, director of public outreach for Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association; Jeff Lorson, director of the Marcellus Shale Education and Training Center at the Pennsylvania College of Technology; Tom Murphy, co-director of the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Development at Penn State University; Sharon Jones, Leadership Lycoming special events coordinator and member of the Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce; and Rob Glunk, vice president and branch administration and special development of Jersey Shore State Bank.
Looking around, visitors could see booths that offered everything imaginable for the well drillers and industry workers.
Besides massive heavy equipment for rental and purchase parked on the grass lots, there were smaller but equally necessary items for sale and on order such as customized water bottles.
"We can print T-shirts, make scratch pads and magnets," said Gary Stebbins, vice president of marketing for JanWay, company based in Cogan Station.
The business had pens, uniform patches and a customized driver's journal available. "We can customize the pages to fit any needs," Stebbins said.
Michell Rhodes, a sales manager for JanWay, held up a tiny but invaluable item that many drillers might forget and badly need, especially in the wind and sun.
"Lip balm," she said.
