KDKA-TV news covered the flow of southerners who have decided to put down new roots and call Pittsburgh home thanks to the natural gas industry. Range Resources Completions Engineering Manager Rodney Archibeque, and his family are featured in the story.
See the full video below.
KDKA Reporter Andy Sheehan interviewed the Archibeques.
Oil and gas workers from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana have come up to Western Pennsylvania for work.
And while some have come and gone, the industry says a growing number have put down roots.
“I went to my first frack job when I was about 5 years old,’ said Rodney Archibeque.
Rodney has kicked around gas and oil patches all of his life in, and around, College Station, Texas, where he graduated with an engineering degree from Texas A&M.
But Texas is where Rodney used to live.
“I go back every now and then, but when I’m there I can’t wait to get home,” he said.
“Today, home for Rodney is in Eighty-Four, Pa. and his father, mother and sister live close by.
They’ve joined a growing legion of transplanted Texans, Oklahomans and Louisianans who have decided to stay put.
“I love it up here,” said Rodney. “I love the hunting, I’m big into out doors. Love going to my brother-in-law’s farm and hauling hay in the summer.”
…the shale gas industry says it’s created more than 200,000 jobs in the state. While about 70 percent of those jobs are filled with native Pennsylvanians,
Regional Employment Facts
The latest Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Marcellus Fast Facts says:
- For 2014: Marcellus Shale related industries total employment is 243,033
- The average wage in the core industries was about $93,000 which was approximately $43,200 greater than the average for all industries.
A Marcellus Shale Coalition study found:
- More than 70% of new hires in the natural gas industry were from Pennsylvania.
- 93% of Marcellus Shale hires in the region are residents of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and New York.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Marcellus Shale helping region’s economy
Pittsburgh Business times reported: “between 2005 and 2012 almost 90% of the job growth in Pennsylvania at that time came from oil and gas jobs”
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported: Washington County ranked third nationally in job growth, which was fueled by the Marcellus shale