Draft Day Experience Approaching Fast; Reserve Your Tickets Today!

Plans continue to take shape for the 2016 Draft Day Experience, April 28 at the McKinley Grand Hotel in Canton.

We'll watch the first round of the NFL Draft unfold on large projection screens in the hotel conference room, while enjoying great food, beverages, music, a silent auction and more. In addition, Kenny Roda of WHBC radio in Canton will moderate analysis of the draft picks live with former NFL players in attendance.

Speaking of former players, Hall of Famer Dave Robinson, legendary linebacker for the Green Bay Packers, will join us, along with former Cleveland Browns stars Don Cockroft, Hanford Dixon and Felix Wright, and other NFL alumni.

Commemorative Medallion

Members of the Canton Charge Girls will be on hand, as well. And, to show our appreciation to our guests, ticket holders will receive a commemorative medallion being minted especially for the Draft Day Experience. It will feature the event logo on one side and the Pro Football Hall of Fame logo on the other.

The Hall of Fame is one of the sponsoring organizations for the Draft Day Experience, along with the East Central Ohio Building & Construction Trades Council and the Stark Carroll Oil & Gas Partnership.

Canton Charge Girls

Tickets are $125 each, and proceeds will benefit the Legends Landing assisted living residence that is planned as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the event begins at 7:30. Corporate sponsorships are available and include a pre-event VIP reception that will offer a chance to spend time with some of our NFL alumni who will be in attendance.

Visit our website for complete details: www.ChooseStark.com. We look forward to seeing you at the Draft Day Experience in Canton on April 28!

Draft Day Experience Set for April 28 in Canton

Here's an update on the Draft Night event in Canton next month.

The 2016 Draft Day Experience is set for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, at the McKinley Grand Hotel in Canton. Food, beverages, trivia contests, memorabilia auctions and more will be featured, as guests view the first round of the NFL Draft on large video screens. An ongoing Roundtable Discussion with former NFL players will feature comments and analysis between draft picks in a format moderated by Kenny Roda of WHBC-AM in Canton.

Former NFL stars scheduled to appear include Cleveland Browns alumni Don Cockroft, Hanford Dixon, Felix Wright and Anthony Griggs. Other NFL alumni scheduled to attend include Jeff Hastings (Detroit/Pittsburgh), Marv Kellum (Pittsburgh/St. Louis) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Dave Robinson (Green Bay). 

Cost is $125 per ticket and includes the Draft Day Experience, hors d’oeuvres, beverages, a round table discussion with former NFL players, and a silent auction. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Legends Landing, a planned independent and assisted living senior care facility residence for retired Pro Football Hall of Famers and others from the NFL’s Legends Community that will be part of the Hall of Fame Village in Canton.

The Draft Day Experience is being presented by the East Central Ohio Building and ConstructionTrades Council, in conjunction with the Stark Carroll Oil and Gas Partnership and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Event sponsorships are available. Main sponsorships include admission to a pre-event VIP Reception at 6 p.m. with NFL alumni and other special guests.

For tickets or sponsorship information, call (330) 451-6207 or visit www.ChooseStark.com.

Partnership Celebrates Carroll County's New Energy Facility

From the time the Stark Carroll Oil & Gas Partnership was formed, a key member and sponsor has been the East Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council. This leading association of more than 20 building trades unions from six Northeast Ohio counties has been an active supporter of the oil and gas industry in Ohio and an important member of the Partnership since it was founded.

Partnership Chairman Dave Kirven (second from left)
assists with the CCE plant groundbreaking July 21

The organization helped celebrate a milestone occasion on July 21 when Dave Kirven, president of the council, who also serves as business agent for Plumbers & Pipefitters Local No. 94 and as chairman of the Stark Carroll Oil & Gas Partnership, participated with other union and state officials at the groundbreaking for the $899 Carroll County Energy (CCE) facility, a 700 megawatt, natural gas-fired power plant in Carrollton.

In addition to other incentives, Advanced Power, the project’s developer, agreed to use local vendors for products and services, and agreed to a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the East Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council.

According to an article by Matt Jaworski in the Labor Citizen, an official building and trades publication, the project is expected to employ about 700 workers at its peak, “with roughly half of the jobs going to pipefitters and boilermakers.”

“While the bulk of the workers will not be on the jobsite until 2016,” Jaworski wrote, “the work could not have come at a better time for area construction unions that started to see a slowdown in the oil and natural gas sector.”

Kirven pointed out that the unions offer a tremendous advantage in finding enough skilled tradesmen for any size job.

“In addition to the locals in the immediate area, there are more than 300 unions nationwide to draw from,” he said.

The Union Labor Life Insurance Company (Ullico), a labor-owned insurance and investment company, is a minority equity investor in the CCE project. Ullico investments are backed by the pension funds of unions such as the building trades.

According to information on the Ullico website, the CCE will generate direct economic impact of $655 million in Carroll County, and an indirect impact of more than $60 million through the purchase of local supplies and services.

This article also appeared in ShaleMart's print and online editions.

Pro Football HOF Village Holds Promise for Region, Building Trades

The news about the Pro Football Hall of Fame and their Hall of Fame Village project just keeps getting bigger, better and more impressive, and promises to deliver a tremendous economic boost to Stark County and the entire region.

As published in ShaleMart magazine

We at the StarkCounty Oil & Gas Partnership are especially excited, because it represents continued diversity to the development of the region. We are already actively involved in the biggest economic windfall to affect the United States in this young century—the expansion and growth of the oil and gas industry. While that is having a positive effect nationwide, the expansion of the Pro Football Hall of Fame will have a significant impact close to home, and is clearly deserving of our support.

David Baker, president and CEO of the Hall, began sharing the potential for the project more than a year ago in speeches and presentations to chambers of commerce and other business groups in Stark County. When he and others involved in the Hall of Fame Village announced the details at a press conference in May, the full scope of the $476 million project became known. It will be exciting to watch the village become a reality in the months and years ahead.

One of the reasons we’re so excited is that the Hall of Fame has a track record of using local contractors and local Building Trades craftsmen, and our area Building Trades are actively involved with the oil and gas industry. Dave Kirven, chairman of the Stark County Oil & Gas Partnership, is also president of the East Central Ohio Building & Construction Trades Council.

“We’ve been in discussions with Dave Baker and others at the Hall of Fame with the goal of securing a commitment to the hiring of local Building Trades craftsmen for the Village project,” Kirven said.

Kirven attended the press conference at which the Hall of Fame Village details were announced, and drew applause from the audience when he assured Baker that the project would “be ready for you when you bring the NFL Draft here in 2019.”

Stuart Lichter, president of the company that is developing the village, assured those in attendance that they would utilize local labor as much as possible.

That’s good news for Stark County. The Partnership applauds the Pro Football Hall of Fame for its commitment to our region, and to the local workers who are helping to build it.

This article was originally submitted for publication in ShaleMart's print and online editions.

Education Opportunities Abound to Prepare Workers for Oil and Gas Jobs

A report released in 2014 by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank, emphasized the importance of education to a local economy: "Overwhelmingly, high-wage states are states with a well-educated workforce. There is a clear and strong correlation between the educational attainment of a state's workforce and median wages in the state."

As published in ShaleMart magazine

The Stark Education Partnership collaborates with educators, businesses, and civic and community leaders to foster sustainable improvement in colleges and schools throughout the county. Furthermore, Stark County is well-positioned to remain competitive in the years ahead, with the undergraduate and graduate programs at Kent State University at Stark, Malone University, the University of Mount Union and Walsh University, as well as the education available in technology and the local building trades at Stark State College, one of Ohio's premier community and technical colleges.

As our educational institutions continue to adapt to the changing economy, more focus is being placed on training students for careers in the oil and gas industry. As an example of this trend, Stark State College opened a new oil and gas well site training center in Canton in 2014. Part of a satellite academic building downtown, the facility represents a direct partnership with the energy industry designed to better prepare skilled laborers for the workforce.

The R.G. Drage Career Technical Center in Massillon, which is a two-year joint vocational facility serving the public school districts in Stark County, has recognized the impact of the oil and gas industry by adapting the curriculum to promote increased employment opportunities and allow for continued training at the post-secondary level.

The construction trade unions that are a part of the East Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council also provide apprenticeship and training programs that are endorsed by the U.S. Department of Labor. These programs ensure that there is always a pool of highly skilled construction workers to serve the needs of oil and gas and other industries.

Career training is vital to the future of any region, and the Stark County Oil and Gas Partnership is proud to partner with these educational institutions and labor organizations to provide programs that will prepare our residents to qualify for the new job opportunities created by the oil and gas industry.

This article was originally submitted for publication in ShaleMart's print and online editions.

Canton Seminar Focuses on Energy Opportunities for Minorities, Women

More than 100 people assembled at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Event Center in Canton on June 10 for “Energize Canton,” a half-day event organized by the Ohio office of the American Petroleum Institute. The seminar was presented as a community conversation about the energy industry and focused career opportunities available for minorities and women, particularly in Canton and Stark County.

Dave Kirven speaks

Dave Kirven, chairman of the Stark County Oil & Gas Partnership, participated in a panel discussion in his role as business agent for the East Central Ohio Building & Construction Trades Council.  Dave emphasized the opportunities available in the trades and the advantages of entering those careers.

Ron Ponder of WHBC radio served as master of ceremonies for the day. Mayor William Healy of Canton spoke to the group about opportunities in the city and responded to some questions from the audience.

For more coverage of the event, please click here to read a review from The Repository in Canton.