Go West Young Man, Go West

To The Editor:
With the economy being so poor people seem to be waiting for the worst to happen. My advice would be, “Go west, young man, go west.” Just west of here in Pennsylvania, and a couple of surrounding states, there is the Marcellus Gas Deposit, which recently has a number of companies drilling for natural gas. They have put out a call for workers of all kinds. A bit further west of there in Williston, N.D. where they have begun to drill for oil in the Bakken oil deposit.
Between these two areas and the companies working to extract these commodities there are an estimated 50,000 jobs needing to be filled. It’s like a new gold rush similar to that of an age gone by that persuaded thousands of young men and their families to move west. And there will be work in these areas for years to come. In Williston they say they need hundreds of truck drivers and they are paying very well. The shortage out there is housing, so it would seem they need builders as well. As new communities develop there will be a need for every type of worker you can imagine. You can check this out by looking up these two areas on a computer and read for yourself.
I just put an email out to Congressman Frank LoBiondo asking him to address the housing need in the short term by locating the hundreds of trailers (possibly thousands) that were originally sent south following Hurricane Katrina by FEMA. My understanding is that they are sitting somewhere wasting away. If this is the case then our government should find a way to get these living units where they will serve the most good, provided they exist.
If all that is being written is true about these two developing areas, there is no excuse for those needing work not to explore this possibility. It would be a new start. A new lease on life. The pay is good and the possibilities seem endless. And our government should jump on this bandwagon and help support meeting the needs of the growing workforce.
Apparently it is all true as a new $650 million steel plant is being built in Youngstown, Ohio. A 10- story facility that will be producing steel products needed to drill for gas and oil. So, what are you waiting for? Pack your bags and go west. A new beginning, a new life, and a new job.
LOU GINSBURG
Cape May