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Williams Energy has already made more than a $150 million investment in natural gas operations in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and now it has announced it will open at least two offices in the region and nearly triple its work force to 50 by year’s end.
Helen Humphreys, a spokeswoman for the Tulsa, Okla.-based company, said an office will open in the former P&G Federal Credit Union building at 51 Warren St., Tunkhannock. She said a second office, likely in the Nicholson area, would also be announced this year.
She said that while a permanent office is one sign of the company’s pledge to the region, “it isn’t the office that demonstrates our commitment to the area. It’s that infrastructure we’ve put in the ground.”
The company signed a $150 million deal last year with Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation that included 75 miles of gas gathering pipelines and two existing compressor stations that Cabot has installed and constructed over the last three years.
Also part of the deal was a 25-year gathering agreement calling for Williams to complete construction of a 32-mile, 24-inch high pressure pipeline to the Transco pipeline in Dallas Township from Cabot’s Lathrop Station in Springville Township, Susquehanna County; build about 65 miles of various 16- to 24-inch trunk lines in Susquehanna County; and construct two additional compressor stations with a total of 40,000 horsepower. During the term of the 25-year agreement, Williams also will connect all Cabot drilling program wells with 8-inch and 10-inch gathering lines and deliver Cabot production to five interstate pipeline delivery points.
Williams has 17 employees on staff working locally and could grow to 50 by year’s end and possibly 100 by 2014, said Humphreys, who is among the 17. She said positions include gathering technicians, operations supervisors, safety representatives, environmental specialists, corrosion technicians, operations engineers, compression specialists, measurement specialists, land men, construction managers and planners/schedulers.
The Pittsburgh area resident is looking for a residence in the Tunkhannock area and said the jobs the gas industry is creating is just one drop in the economic impact bucket.
“I think you have to consider the type of economic opportunities this will bring to the area. It’s not just the opportunities that people have to work for Williams,” she said. “It’s the opportunity that businesses already in the area have to increase its customer base.”
That’s been the case at Taylor Rentals, with locations in Tunkhannock and South Montrose. Co-owner Bill Kelley Jr. said business has quadrupled since the gas industry entered the area in 2008 and he’s doubled staff at both stores.
Besides the rental business, which the gas industry has used for light towers, heaters and mini excavators, he said he’s been selling specialty equipment such as high pressure fittings, geotechnical fabrics and valves that he never kept in stock. But demand caused a shift in his inventory and he’s reaping the rewards.
The permanent office might be downplayed by Humphreys but Kelley said for him and other business owners, it’s an important sign.
“You look at something like that and it tells me they’re completely invested in this area,” Kelley said.