Marcellus Shale
slightly to 10.2 percent
A natural fit
By Patrick Sweet
Staff Writer
HANOVER TWP. — A new
joint venture in Hanover
Township may yield up to 50
new jobs, with some related
to the gas drilling industry.
In what could be the first
local sign of the natural gas
industry’s economic impact,
Plains Township-based Medi-
co Industries Inc.
COVER is teaming up
with Venezuelan
STORY
company Equipet-
rol to expand to a
manufacturing
site in the Hanover Industrial
Estates business park.
To make the project work,
Medico applied for up to $10
million in financing through
the Luzerne County Indus-
trial Development Authority.
The authority will hold a
public hearing at 11 a.m. Aug.
11 at its 163 S. Washington St.
office in Wilkes-Barre to dis-
cuss the project and take
comments.
“The main reason for the
expansion,” Medico vice
president Larry Medico
said, “is here at Medico
Industries we are running
out of space.”
The financing will help
establish a 120,000-square-
foot manufacturing center.
Medico will use half of the
space with newly formed
Equipetrol USA LLC taking
up the other.
“We’d like to get started
as soon as possible,” Medico
said. “I will probably say
that Medico will be hiring
in maybe a month, month
and a half.”
Equipetrol, Medico said,
will employ 10 to 15 people
while Medico Industries
will employ an additional
35 to 40 to expand its cur-
rent manufacturing capa-
bilities.
Medico primarily manu-
factures mortar shells and
other projectile metal parts
and holds contracts with
the U.S. Department of
Defense. The company also
Search for natural gas permits, leases and
more in our expanded online databases at
citizensvoice.com/drilling.
WB_VOICE - CVDAILY - 5 - 07/27/10
Northeastern Pennsylvania’s New Frontier Area joblessness dips
Natural gas industry spurs project
between Medico, Equipetrol By David Falchek
Staff Writer
Unemployment down
Joblessness in Scranton/W-B
inched down from 10.3% in
Joblessness among Scran- May to 10.2% in June.
ton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton Scranton/W-B
metropolitan area residents State
11
moved down one-tenth of a
percentage point in June to
10
Unemployment rate (%)
10.2 percent, a slight drop
(seasonally adjusted)
that kept the region’s rate in 9
the double digits and the
highest among the state’s 14 8
metro areas. 10.2%
The region’s labor force, 7 9.2%
employment and even the
number of unemployed all
dropped on a seasonally
6
June Nov. June
’09 ’09 ’10
adjusted basis in July, a
SOURCE: STATE DEPARTMENT OF
reshuffling that resulted in LABOR AND INDUSTRY
very little change, according
to data released today by the stown as having the highest
state Department of Labor. jobless rate in the state. State-
People should expect a wide average unemployment
slow drop in the historically was unchanged in June at 9.2
KRISTEN MULLEN / THE CITIZENS’ VOICE
high rate and not be sur- percent. Pennsylvania’s ten-
Medico Industries of Plains Township and Venezuelan company Equipetrol prised if unemployment tative May rate was adjusted
will occupy this 120,000-square-foot building in Hanover Industrial park to surges for a few months, said up a tenth of a percentage
manufacture product for the oil and natural gas industries. Teri Ooms, executive direc- point to 9.2. The national
tor of the Institute for Public average was 9.5 percent.
The company hopes to
U.S. SEN. BOB CASEY introduces
legislation on emergency re-
‘This is something begin producing products in Policy & Economic Develop- Ooms was cautiously opti-
mistic. This is the first drop
sponse preparedness related new for the gas January or February of next ment, a think tank backed by
area colleges. in area unemployment since
to drilling. PAGE 11 year.
industry up here. Some of the debt issued “We can’t get shaken up by January. Month-to-month
changes in establishment
from the authority will also changes over the next few
rents, sells and repairs con- It may be a tough go towards construction and months,” she said. “We are in data, the tally of jobs in the
struction equipment. metro area, offered some
Equipetrol will produce market to get into.’ improvements at Medico’s the elementary stages of a
good news. Although the
headquarters at 1500 High- slow recovery. It is unrealis-
valves and production sys- LARRY MEDICO region saw an overall drop of
way 315, Plains Township. tic to expect we will regain
tems, along with tool and Medico vice president 500 non-farm jobs in June,
In the case that the project jobs as quickly as we lost
manufacture joints used for most were anticipated
falls apart, the public will not them.”
drilling natural gas. declines in temporary U.S.
“This is something new for be obligated to pick up the Among the counties that
Equipetrol Venezuela has Census workers and seasonal
the gas industry up here,” tab, according to a legal ad make up the metro area,
been building products for education employment. Most
Medico said. “It may be a purchased by the authority. Luzerne had the highest sea-
the oil and gas industry for other sectors showed modest
tough market to get into.” Attempts to reach mem- sonally-adjusted unemploy-
over 25 years, according the increases, such as 300 new
The product will likely bers of the development ment at 10.7 percent in June,
Equipetrol USA website. jobs in trade and transporta-
appeal, he said, to an interna- authority were unsuccessful. followed by Wyoming at 9.7
The two companies plan to tion, 200 in construction, 100
tional market and large pro- and Lackawanna at 9.6. The
introduce a new product to in professional and business
duction areas. psweet@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2117 region was tied with John-
the Marcellus Shale region, a services.
multi-port valve and produc-
THE CITIZENS’ VOICE
tion system that allows up to
seven wells to be connected
to the same system.
Anibel Mierez, a Medico
and for mer Equipetrol
employee, said the valves
allow for a more economical
drill site, reducing the num-
ber of valves and feet of pip-
ing.
TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2010 – 5
Medico, though, is not sure
how well the product will do
in Pennsylvania. Many drill-
ing sites in the area only pro-
duce one well, he said.
WB_VOICE/PAGES [T05] | 07/26/10 23:26 | SUPERIMPWB