Range Resources: 10 Years at Southpointe in Washington County
Range Resources at 3000 Town Center Blvd. in Southpointe
Range Resources Renz well pic 051217.jpg
Observer-Reporter
Pictured is the Renz #1 Well that led to the development of the Marcellus Shale in Washington County.
Senior Vice President John Applegath with EVP & COO Ray Walker at
the 2010 groundbreaking for Range’s current Southpointe location
When petroleum engineer and now-COO Ray Walker was first tasked with setting up an office for Range Resources in southwestern Pennsylvania, location was key.
His first visit to the area had taken place in March 2006. At that time, he was working as a consultant, and had been hired by Range to help the company complete its first Marcellus Shale horizontal well in Mt. Pleasant Township. By July, he’d been hired full-time by Range as the company’s new Vice President of Engineering Technology. But while Ray’s primary focus was on cracking the code that would make the Marcellus profitable for Range, he was also in charge of setting up what the company then referred to as their “Pittsburgh office.”
First though, he needed to break the news to his wife, Amy, in Texas. “I told her in early December what the company wanted me to do, and she said ‘well, can I at least go see it first?'” The couple visited the area together in early December, and made the decision to relocate. After that, things moved quickly.
“Range held a meeting at a hotel near the Pittsburgh airport hotel in January of 2007, and we announced that we were opening a new office in southwestern Pennsylvania. Immediately afterward, I spent about three days looking at over 20 different possible office locations – and what it really came down to was that I wanted somewhere you could easily get off and get back on the interstate, go in either direction, and be close to our company’s core operating area. And the broker I was with said, ‘well, I got the spot for you.’ And it was Southpointe in Washington County.”
Ten years ago, Southpointe was nowhere near as developed as it is now. The Hilton Garden Inn – still a very busy site in the park – was one of the main draws, with a few other businesses also right off Southpointe Boulevard close by. Today, the 589-acre Cecil Township business park is home to a number of corporations including Range Resources, Mylan, ANSYS, Inc. along with dozens of natural gas producers, midstream companies, and businesses that service the industry.
Initially, Ray remembers asking Range’s Investor Relations Manager David Amend (who also managed all the company’s real estate transactions) about getting 5,000 square feet. “He thought that was too much, and that senior management would never approve it.” In David’s defense, the initial group was quite small. “There was only about a dozen of us, and we called that group the pilgrims,” remembers Ray. Completion Operations Manager and Eldersville resident Shawn Hodges was among them.
“We were a close group, we all had dinner together a lot, and got to know each other really well. We had no idea really, what was ahead.” Shawn also reflects back on how that small group of employees influenced the culture at the company today. “As we all shared what was basically just a little three-room office, we had an open-door policy. If you had a question, you talked with whoever you needed an answer from. Nobody was better than anybody else, we were all working together toward a common goal. And that’s the same way Range operates today.”
Ten years ago, the first Southpointe home of Range’s “pilgrims” was the Plaza One building. “The previous tenant had vacated and left in a hurry,” says Ray. “All the furniture was still there.” It wasn’t a big space. “Basically we all shared an office, a kitchen, and a conference room.”
As the group grew larger, they moved to Plaza Two, where they took up one entire floor – a big deal at the time. That space sufficed for a while, but eventually, the company took up occupancy in the Solutions building across the parking lot as well. “We took up nearly all of Plaza Two and the Solutions building,” Ray remembers.
Production was growing, and so was the company. It was clear that Range needed a new building to house its employees. In 2011 – the company moved into 3000 Town Center Blvd, where more than 250 employees work today. More than 150 additional Range employees work out of the Independence Field Office, near the Washington County Fairgrounds. And as the company has grown, so too has Southpointe.
Jeff Kotula is the President of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. He has watched Range blaze a trail in the Marcellus Shale, and at Southpointe.
“While it is difficult to believe that Range Resources is already celebrating its 10th Anniversary in Southpointe, the positive impact both the company and the energy industry had on our county economy over that same decade is apparent everywhere,” says Jeff. “It can be seen in the new jobs, new opportunities and new residents that have been a result of the energy industry. Range Resources has driven that change, leading the development of the energy industry in our state and growing to become one of Washington County’s premier employers and best corporate citizens. We are proud that Range Resources calls Washington County home and look forward to another decade of growth with Range as a partner in our success.”
Over the last decade, the natural gas industry has poured of billions of dollars into the local economy. Southpointe too, has had a positive impact. In a recent newspaper article, Cecil Township’s Manager stated that over the last ten years, the township’s budget expanded from $4.5 million to $8.2 million and the assessed value of all taxed property increased $40 million. The Manager went on to describe the business park as a “major windfall” to generate more taxes, which have helped fund improvement projects in the township. Cecil has also been rated as the number one place to raise a family in Pennsylvania.
And for the hundreds of Range employees who now work at Southpointe and IFO, the vast majority of whom live in Washington County and the surrounding area, along with thousands of other people who work for vendors, supply companies, and other businesses who are impacted by Range – the decision ten years ago to open a Southpointe hub, right off of I-79, continues to make great sense.
“We knew we were at the beginning of something big ten years ago when we moved into Southpointe, and Washington County has been great to us,” says Ray. “We’re looking forward to the next ten years and well beyond!”
This article is written and sponsored by Range Resources.