As development continues of the region's Utica and Marcellus shale mineral deposits, the Youngstown area is being seen as a potential hub of activity.
Fittingly, the Valley will play host on Nov. 30 to the state's conference focusing on the play for oil and natural gas in this part of the country. The "Youngstown, Ohio Utica and Natural Gas" conference will be held at the Covelli Centre downtown and will feature a morning session that's open to the general public focusing on benefits to the community from this growing industry.
"For example, we have the head of the geology department at Youngstown State, Dr. Jeff Dick, talking about the pros, the facts and the fiction of fracking. We also have representatives of human resources from V & M Star talking about the hiring process," said Eric Planey of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber.
The event is being organized by the Regional Chamber. An afternoon session offering business-to-business networking has sold out and will not be open to the public.
"The morning session is open to the public. We encourage pre-registration on our website, but they don't have to pre-register. Right now, I believe we have 80 or so people registered for the public, so we have plenty of room. The afternoon session, we were happy to say, sold out at 700 attendees," Planey said.
