Ohio is fortunate to have some major shale-related infrastructure projects in the works, and the importance developing and investing in such projects was the focus of a bipartisan event hosted this week by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Ohio Manufacturers Association (OMA) and Youngstown Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The event featured a panel discussion, moderated by OMA managing director of public policy Ryan Augsberger, entitled “Fueling America’s Future: Accelerating Energy and Transportation Infrastructure.” The discussion featured:

• Congressman Tim Ryan (D-13^th District)
• Congressman Bill Johnson (R-Sixth District)
• Rocco DiGennaro Jr., Western Reserve Building & Construction Trades Council (WRBCTC) president
• David Ledonne, MarkWest/MPLX vice president of operations for Utica and Appalachia

The list of major Ohio infrastructure projects currently in the works includes pipelines, roads, bridges and power plants, and as Rep. Ryan told WKBN News, “… At the heart of the discussion comes the impact on the local economy,” adding that energy infrastructure is,

“Great for the economy, great for the workers, middle-class jobs that are secure with benefits and pensions and good retirements, so it’s all good.”

In fact, investment in projects such as these is important to continuing the recent revival of manufacturing to Ohio, as Ledonne and Ryan also discussed,

“There is an opportunity to sit down in a bipartisan way and figure out how to use shale to move the country forw...

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