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SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 2019
harrisonnewsherald.com
Speakers talk $70B plus investment in Har. Co. at Jobs Ohio meeting By JD LONG
jim@harrisonnewsherald.com
CADIZ – Marcellus and Utica Shale, exporting more than Saudi Arabia, $70 billion invested in a region that includes Harrison County. Those were some of the words used by Congressman Bill Johnson-R (District6) who also spoke of the state of Ohio and its great representation in American history at Tuesday’s JobsOhio board meeting held at the Mine Safety Training Center (MSTC) on Industrial Park Road. Harrison County continues to push on seeking business endeavors, partners and anything in between for keeping the county financially afloat and its residents with opportunities to choose and grow. Tuesday’s meeting, which included a throng of elected officials with many from Harrison County, was such an impressive turnout it could not hold all of the people that attended Several that were familiar with JobsOhio meetings said it was the most well attended meeting they’ve ever seen. The lengthy meeting began with Chairman of the Board Bob Smith
making the introductions and spoke of touring several facilities of the oil and gas industry earlier in the day. The first man he introduced to speak was obviously no stranger to Harrison County as the former Air Force Lt. Colonel, Johnson noted the pitfalls overcome and hurdles needed to climb during the Civil War years such as, Abraham Lincoln when first elected and facing war. Other notables mentioned were Salmon P. Chase, Ohio’s 23rd governor; Pt. Pleasant’s Ulysses S. Grant; Lancaster’s, General William Tecumseh Sherman and General Phillip Sheridan of Somerset. Johnson then moved onto Astronaut and former Senator John Glenn from Cambridge, and the first man to ever walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong from Wapakoneta, as well as the Wright brothers and Thomas Edison-all from Ohio. Then Congressman Johnson moved on speaking of investments being made in the area and how it’s transforming business and increasing opportunity with the help of partnerships between JobsOhio and APEG (Economic Development in Eastern and Southern Ohio while
Ready for the Fair!
serving 25 counties). “And I’m telling you what folks, we’re blowing the doors off again…I can’t think of another state that is doing it the way we’re doing it in Ohio, and it is paying big, big dividends,” Johnson stated adding that since 2011 to the current year, more than $70 billion has been invested into the region that Harrison County occupies. And the elephant in the room is obviously the Marcellus and Utica Shale and its rich productions of oil and gas, which are providing the region for growth and opportunity. “About 32 percent of the nation’s natural gas demand comes from this region,” Johnson explained. “By 2040 we’re told, it will be as much as 45 percent. By 2050, it will be over 50 percent.” Johnson also stated that Harrison County is the number one county in the state for the wealthiest and best “lease-holds.” “…I think there’s a lot of reasons, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about where we are, pride in where we come from and a lot of excitement about where we’re going.”
relationships,” he told the overflow crowd, “It’s important to business and it’s okay if it’s fun too…” The second theme was for more efforts on the workforce and the third being more sites. A term thrown around a lot lately is shovel and/or job-ready sites, which Nauseef emphasized as important for
See MEETING PG. 5
NH Photo/JD LONG
Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson (pictured) -R (6th District) and APEG CEO Mike Jacoby spoke to an overflow crowd at Tuesday’s JobsOhio board meeting held at the Mine Safety Training Center on Industrial Park Road in Cadiz. The theme was promise, building, Ohio history, workforce and a rising future.
Harrison Power reps in Cadiz, talk continues behind closed doors By JD LONG
jim@harrisonnewsherald.com
Natalie Shuss, 8, of Tappan Lake, member of the Silver Spurs 4-H Club, is portraying the ticket taker in the club's admission stand booth at the Harrison County Junior Fair. "Now Showing..."is the theme of the 172nd annual fair.
A parade of speakers followed, which included the Deputy Director of Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Britney Colvin and Chief Investment Officer JP Nauseef of JobsOhio who outlined eight recurring themes when traveling through the state engaging with people and entities. “…Establishing, maintaining and having genuine, real, aligned
CADIZ – During the Harrison County Community Improvement Corporation (HCCIC) monthly meeting held late Tuesday afternoon at the Cadiz Puskarich Library, three representatives of Harrison Power LLC walked quietly in and sat down. They also walked quietly out after an executive session that lasted approximately 20 minutes and made no comments. These three men who were never identified were led out of the room by Harrison County Economic Development Director, Nick Homrighausen, who escorted the men out the door where they obviously planned on giving no statements. When pressed, both Homrighausen and one of the representatives who did not give his name said a joint press statement would be released to prevent conflicting statements coming from them or county officials. “…But I think that it is important that we have one direct communication…” one of the representatives stated as he was leaving the building. When asked about ground breaking, no one provided an answer as they walked out.
Harrison Power LLC and its affiliate EmberClear released a statement back in January with the CEO’s name attached to it, Raj Suri where he noted the delay in groundbreaking that took it from the fall of 2018 to the “first half of 2019.” He also noted “significant milestones have been achieved that continue to move the project forward.” In this newly obtained press release quoting only representatives from EmberClear, “the project continues to move forward while major milestones are being met.” The January release also refers to forward progress where Suri stated he is pleased with “forward momentum.” But further down the current press release is an exact quote from January that states: “…it has found the regulatory process slower than expected, likely due to the increased volume of activity in Ohio’s oil and gas industry.” Exactly what that means is not known because EmberClear is only communicating via press releases at this time. But Homrighausen did provide some light on the subject with his own comments via the released statement, albeit with similar lines from January as well. “We are pleased to hear a positive update from the developers on this project,” stated Homrighausen in the statement released Wednesday. “We
continue to work diligently with the developer towards completion of this project. This project[‘]s regulatory hurdle shows the growing pains our region is experiencing in the shale oil and gas industry. “There is a large volume of projects being built and slated to be built in our region. The regulatory process is time consuming and requires a vast amount of resources. It is a process that is worthwhile in ensuring the health and welfare of citizens.” Also not talking are any of the HCCIC members as they’ve all signed non-disclosure agreements they worked out with Harrison Power-EmberClear, which includes all three Harrison County commissioners who were present. During the executive session some parts of conversations could be heard emanating beyond the closed door as HCCIC members were asking the representatives multiple questions leading to answers involving regulatory problems, which do match the statement they released. Some of those questions obviously dealt with a June 30 deadline for groundbreaking as the January statement said it would take place in the first half of 2019, as an
See POWER PG. 4
Commissioners deal with multiple agreements, resolutions By JD LONG
jim@harrisonnewsherald.com
Bristol Tipton, 9, shows the theme of the Harrison Junior Fair, "Now Showing..." in a Vanna White fashion while putting up the Freeport Friends booth at the Junior Fair building. She is the daughter of Ashley Stine and Matt Tippton.
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harrisonnewsherald.com
CADIZ – Multiple approvals were needed from the Harrison County Commissioners on Wednesday morning beginning with Victim’s Advocate Jessica Norris. The yearly VOCA Grant for 2019-2020 needed a signature to pass on for a total of $66,684.71, which the commissioners approved. Norris told the board that last year she had asked for $12,565.78, which she said would last until Sept. 30 as the
OBITUARIES Thomas Howard Adams Cadiz, Ohio Larry E. Grimes Cadiz, Ohio Thomas "PeeWee" Strother
“current match.” For this year, which begins on Oct. 1, Norris asked for $13,336.95, a difference of just over $771. “That is including a 4 percent raise in everything…” referring to workers compensation, PERS, Medicare, life and eye insurance and hospitalization as well. Salary and hospitalization take the biggest chunk out of the fund ($55,290-plus), where she said any money left over is sent back. Some data provided shows victim totals at 203 for 2008-09 but dipping to 196 the following year. In 2010-11
that number rose again to 205 where it dropped significantly in 2013-14 at 162 (no data was listed for 2011 through 2012). From there the numbers rose dramatically from 185 in 2014-15 to 363 the following year where there’s a slight dip then soaring to 488 in 2017-18. With two weeks left in the 2018-19 calendar the number stands at 325 victims reported. “This is a 50 percent increase in victims since I started in December
See COMMISSIONERS PG. 7
Question of the week
Last week’s question Is the economy in Harrison County getting better? YES 47% (9 VOTES) NO 52% (10 VOTES)
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Next week’s question Do you think the power plant in Cadiz will be built this year? YES • NO
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