On its face, the name of our organization – the Delaware Valley Marcellus Association – appears to be an oxymoron, since there is no Marcellus Shale in the region for which it is named. But that reflects a misunderstanding of the name, which was intended not to be descriptive, but to emphasize the aspiration of our organization. We were created to facilitate the economic opportunity – and to address environmental challenges – presented by the Marcellus to Southeastern Pennsylvania.

The news media reporting on the impact of growing Marcellus Shale gas production often focus on the economic good news experienced by localities in the heart of Pennsylvania’s shale country. An example is the reduction of Bradford County’s unemployment rate of 8.33 percent in 2007 to a rate of only 5.95 percent at the end of 2011, despite the skyrocketing unemployment rate in this country as a whole in the wake of 2008’s economic meltdown, which has only recently begun to abate, and at a glacially slow pace at that. Moreover, the media has been quick to tout the economic benefits to the Commonwealth as a whole, such as the $11.2 billion increase in economic activity experienced in 2011 and $1.1 billion increased tax revenue.

The attitude of the press and many local businesses has been that the shale gas boom has bypassed the Delaware Valley – until only recently. The first stirrings of a direct economic impact on the region have been reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer and other local press concerning the recommendation to the Delaware County Council that the Sunoco complex in Marcus Hook become a processing site for Marcellus gas. It was followed days later by reports that Sunoco and the Carlyle Group are joining forces to keep open the largest East Coast refinery, rather than close it as planned because it was non-competitive, by powering it with cheap Marcellus gas.

The DVMA, in order to catalyze the process of transforming Marcellus Shale riches to economic growth to Delaware Valley businesses, will be co-sponsoring at the Union League of Philadelphia on Thursday, September 6, 2012 a panel discussion titled “Doing Business in the Marcellus.” As far as we are aware, this will be the first time such a program has been presented in the Delaware Valley to communicate directly to businesses with a major presence in the Delaware Valley. We’ll talk about how they might directly benefit from opportunities presented by Marcellus Shale exploration, gas recovery, processing, transmission, and export.

Please join us at “Doing Business in the Marcellus!”