University to host Marcellus Shale educational sessions

Beginning Wednesday, June 2, Waynesburg University will host “Your Business & Marcellus Shale: Building Business Connections.” The six-session educational program is designed to help entrepreneurs and established small- and medium-sized businesses understand and respond to Marcellus shale-related business opportunities. The series will be held in the Center for Research and Economic Development on the campus of Waynesburg University.

Webinars with sessions highlighting successful examples of how local businesses are responding, how to identify gas industry needs and how to establish productive and ongoing relationships, will be held twice per month. The six 90-minute sessions will meet June 2, June 16, July 7, July 21, August 4 and August 18, beginning at 8 a.m.

As development of Marcellus shale natural gas grows in Pennsylvania, businesspeople statewide are being invited to a series of breakfast seminars to learn how it may create opportunities for their businesses. Energy firms are flocking to the Commonwealth to extract natural gas from Marcellus, and are partnering with or purchasing from local businesses and entrepreneurs.

The series is co-sponsored by a consortium of universities, chambers of commerce, local planning commissions and regional economic development boards from across the Commonwealth, with leadership from Penn State Cooperative Extension.
Presenters and panelists will include successful local businesses, natural gas industry representatives, and experts from Penn State University.

These trainings follow two successful series; the first series introduced business opportunities and the second profiled businesses and service companies on their experience working with the natural gas industry. Each series had over 500 local businesses participate at local sites within Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York.

To register for the seminar, visit http://www.waynesburg.edu/index.php?q=Academic_Centers/CRED/News_and_Eve....

For more information about the series, contact Nancy Wrick at 724-852-3499 or see the ‘Your Business & Marcellus Shale: Voices of Experience’ website, at http://www.economicdevelopment.psu.edu/marcellusbiz/.

Founded in 1849 by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Waynesburg University is located on a traditional campus in the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania, with three adult centers located in the Pittsburgh region. The University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and is one of only 27 Bonner Scholar schools in the country, offering local, regional and international opportunities to touch the lives of others through service.

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Released May 27, 2010 
Contact: Pam Cunningham, Assistant Director of University Relations
724.852.3384 or pcunning@waynesburg.edu