American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012 - 207

further. But with all the focus on our industry, now every question that can be
asked is being asked."
The new initiative requires a huge
time commitment from IOGAWV members, Haskins says. About half the time
at every Board of Directors meeting involves discussions about public relations
efforts, he reports.
Even though Just Beneath the Surface
has been in existence less than a year, it
already is starting to show signs of success,
Haskins praises, pointing to its impact
during the December special legislative
session that produced new drilling regulations (see accompanying story).
"A lot of the delegates and senators
knew a lot more about what was going
on, and had a better understanding of the
industry," he says. "We tried to talk to
them, to explain what is going on, but
we also tried real hard to get that out to
the public. We have tried to offset negative
news with good strong facts and rational
understanding, and it's is starting to work."
The number of jobs created by the oil
and gas industry provides one compelling
argument for the producing community,
Haskins opines, adding the message is
loudest in the state's northern counties.
He reports that the Marcellus Shale play
and its associated hiring boom in West
Virginia has somewhat offset the economic
recession that has plagued much of the
United States.
In addition to sessions devoted to
meeting with business leaders, Just Beneath the Surface will host a series of
all-day community events in gas-producing
counties, Burd says, with attendance open
to all. The public education initiative is
working with API to produce fact sheets
on hydraulic fracturing. Developing a
video explaining the practice also is under
consideration, he reports.
Burd reports Just Beneath the Surface
will expand the school education campaign
begun with the association's early public
education program Energize West Virginia,
and it will include material for junior
high school students. "It will get these
students when the industry can influence
the decisions they make in high school
on class curriculum and potential career
paths that they may want to start thinking
about. That is not too soon; junior high
school seems to be the time," he asserts.
IOGAWV will be involved in a wide
range of public education activities outside
of Just Beneath the Surface, Burd reports.
On Jan. 25, the association will host Natural Gas Day at the legislature, and once
each month it will hold a business lunch
and learn session in a different community
across the state, he says. Other interactions
with the business community, including

meetings with chambers of commerce
and chapters of the Better Business Bureau,
also are planned throughout the year, he
adds.
IOGAWV Job Fair
The association's job fair, held Nov.
30 in Moundsville, W.V., was a huge
success, Burd reports. The one-day event
attracted more than 1,400 applicants, with
40 association member companies discussing potential job openings.
In addition to booths that allowed
companies to talk to job applicants, Burd
reports Workforce West Virginia, a state
agency, set up a dozen computer workstations at which people could search
and apply for jobs online. The agency
also had staff at the fair to help applicants
with resumes and job applications.
Also participating were the West Virginia Housing Development Fund, to coordinate housing needs in areas where
the industry is operating, and several institutions of higher learning, including
Pierpoint Community & Technical College
in Fairmont, W.V., and Washington County
Career Center, from Ohio.
"Virtually every one of those members
who participated would say they were
totally overwhelmed by the response,"
Burd says. "Going in, I thought if we
could get just 500 people through the job
fair it would be a success. Well, we had
more than 500 by noon, and they just
kept coming in."
The association continues to collect
information on job fair hirings, Burd reports. That data will be useful during the
upcoming legislative session, especially
because organized labor was a stakeholder
in developing drilling regulations, he
points out. One of the complaints raised
during the regulatory process was that
oil and gas producers were only hiring
from outside the state, and Burd says the
job fair figures help refute those allegations.
"IOGAWV is going to build on this
success," Burd asserts. "Then the association will take a little respite, while it
gets through the legislative session, but
then right after the session ends, sometime
in mid-March, the association is going to
go out for its second job fair, possibly to
the Clarksburg area."
r

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JANUARY 2012 207

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012

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