Marcellus Shale Group Leader Excited
Talking with ... Kathryn Z. Klaber
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
24 January 2010
By Joyce Gannon,
Kathryn Klaber, new president and executive director of the Marcellus
Shale Coalition, non profit group that represents companies working to
tap energy sources in the Marcellus Shale rock layers. - Lake Fong/Post-Gazette
It's tough to mention energy costs and resources in Pennsylvania
without the conversation turning to the Marcellus Shale.
Some experts estimate that development of the natural gas contained in
the shale -- a geological formation that stretches from West Virginia
and eastern Ohio through Western Pennsylvania to the New York state
border -- could result in a $14 billion boost to Pennsylvania's economy
this year and create more than 176,000 new jobs by 2020.
But while the shale holds promise as a future natural gas source,
Kathryn Klaber points out that "the process of getting to energy in the
subsurface is nothing new. ... Natural gas wells have been drilled in
Pennsylvania for decades."
Kathryn Z. Klaber
Job: President and executive director, Marcellus Shale Coalition
Age: 44
Hometown: Beaver Falls; resides in Sewickley
Education: Bachelor's, environmental science and ecology, Bucknell
University, 1988; master's of business administration, Carnegie Mellon
University, 2002
Career: 1990-97: regional practice leader and project manager,
Environmental Resources Management Inc., Philadelphia and Pittsburgh;
1997-2000: manager, Pittsburgh regional office, Environmental Resources
Management; 2003-2010: several positions with Allegheny Conference on
Community Development, including executive director of Pennsylvania
Economy League Southwest Pennsylvania and statewide managing director
of Pennsylvania Economy League;
January 2010: named president and executive director, Marcellus Shale
Coalition.
Ms. Klaber, the new president and executive director of the Marcellus
Shale Coalition, considers the exciting aspect of the shale to be the
technological innovations that allow drilling and tapping the gas to be
managed in more economical and environmentally efficient ways than in
the past.
"This has the opportunity to replace foreign oil," she said.
A Beaver County native, Ms. Klaber spent the first decade of her career
with an environmental consulting company, earned a master's degree in
business administration from Carnegie Mellon University, then spent
seven years working on public policy and business development issues
for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.
She discussed her new job a week after being named to head the new
coalition.
Q: How did the Marcellus Shale Coalition come into existence?
A: It includes nearly 40 producing companies and dozens of additional
associate members. Many, many more are coming on as we speak. Many had
organized several years ago to work on issues of importance to industry
growth in Pennsylvania. Last fall, they re-established themselves as
the Marcellus Shale Coalition, elected officers, put by-laws in place
and decided to hire a full-time staff.
Q: Is it fair to say it's a lobbying group and a trade association?
A: It's a trade association-plus. There are three components: One is to
develop a consensus around priorities for investment and growth; second
is a collaboration among stakeholders from suppliers to landowners to
special interest groups. We will work with them to educate them and
deal with issues as they arise. And third is a very clear mandate for
best practices development and implementation.
This state has seen lots of activity around natural resource
development but this opportunity is a lot different than ones in the
past ... an opportunity to develop additional dominant sources of
energy at a time when energy supply and carbon emission are at the
forefront of the American discussion.
Q: Will most of the economic impact come from firms that are drilling?
A: It doesn't stop with the natural gas companies. There are law firms,
accounting firms, small town grocers and dry cleaners all starting to
realize -- in the areas where this is happening -- that there is
business to be had and economic opportunities throughout the supply
chain.
Q: What do you consider to be the biggest challenge to tapping the gas
in the shale?
A: I think the largest challenge has been overcome: the technical
challenge of being able to drill horizontally and recognize yields that
make each well cost effective to investors.
Q: What's it like being a woman in the energy and engineering
industries traditionally dominated by men?
A: I have never considered my gender to be an issue in the workplace --
neither an advantage nor a disadvantage. I have simply worked to get
the job done and have been treated fairly for that. I just make sure
and wear pants to the job site. And I have a hard hat that fits me.
Q: Besides your environmental background, you bring the experience of
seven years at an economic development agency -- the Allegheny
Conference on Community Development. How did that prepare you for this
job?
A: My entire time there I worked on issues related to the business
climate of southwestern Pennsylvania and making it conducive for
investment, job creation and growth. I worked on tax and regulatory
programs for transportation and infrastructure, work force and civic
policy, and how we can make Pennsylvania more competitive despite a
very fragmented nature of our local governments. ... So I think of this
job as the confluence of the environmental or technical and the
business side.
Q: How big a staff do you expect to have, and where will the coalition
be based?
A: The first year, we'll have three additional hires. The idea is not
to grow a staff that makes the Marcellus Shale Coalition somehow
staff-driven. What is most key is leveraging the expertise and talent
within our member companies. We are a membership organization.
We don't have an exact location yet. I think location is important
logistically, but this is by no means going to be an organization that
is office-based. We've got members spread all around Pennsylvania and a
large number of activities in Washington, D.C.; Harrisburg; and with
the counties and local governments where the drilling is going on. So
our home base will be southwestern Pennsylvania, but our intent is to
be a very mobile and virtual organization. We have no choice.
Q: What is your management style?
A: I've been told I empower people. The staff, because of the sheer
95,000 square miles of Marcellus Shale, will need to be making
decisions on its own. I like to put in the framework and the strategy
and then have folks work for me and with me and know what the goals are
so that day-to-day decisions are able to be made with that kind of
empowerment.
Q: Have you had mentors?
A: There are so many. I've taken the best from all of them. For the
first part of my career, it was my clients who helped me understand to
be client-focused. At business school, certainly the entrepreneurship
professors: Frank Demmler and [the late] Jack Thorne of CMU stand out.
At the Allegheny Conference, it was the board. I learned how to work
with incredibly accomplished people who still find time in their day to
contribute to the community.
The person who has been most significant is my husband, Andrew Klaber,
an attorney and student council president of Mt. Lebanon High School,
class of 1983.
Joyce Gannon can be reached at jgannon@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1580.