Photo provided by: craig howell
Heavy Iron Oilfield Services Managing Partner John Van Slyke (right) thanks those who gathered Tuesday to celebrate the company's recent opening in Chester. The company will be the first tenant at the new Rock Springs Business Park, located on the site of the former Taylor Smith & Taylor Pottery Factory.
Business, government and economic development officials gathered in the state's northernmost city Tuesday morning to welcome a new company to the region and celebrate nearly 13 years of commitment.
A grand opening was held for Heavy Iron Oilfield Services LP, which recently moved to the Rock Springs Business Park in Chester. It was once the site of Taylor Smith and Taylor Pottery.
“Today is a significant milestone,” declared Jacob Keeney, co-executive director of the Business Development Corporation of the Northern Panhandle.
BDC announced nearly a year ago that Heavy Iron Oilfield Services would be the business park's first tenant, with the company relocating from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and planning to hire about 100 existing and new employees. He said there was.
John Van Slyke, Managing Partner of Heavy Iron, explains that the company has been in operation since 2011, adding that they are excited to be part of the Chester community and are committed to being a good neighbor. Ta.
“We have always been locally owned and operated,” Van Slyke said. “We always hire locally.”
Heavy Iron Oilfield Services provides well testing and flax flowback services to the oil and gas industry in the eastern United States.
Van Slyke said the Chester location will serve as a hub for operations, allowing equipment to be stored and maintained when not in use in the field.
Tuesday's event began in 2011, when Heavy Iron Co. not only moved its operations to West Virginia, but BDC purchased the property in response to calls from local residents to demolish and prepare the old pottery. I observed the culmination of the trip. for future use.
Chester Mayor Ed Wedgwood explained that he remembers being in elementary school when the TS&T Pottery Factory closed and sat vacant and decaying for 30 years.
“It's been years of frustration and long waits,” he said, thanking city residents who asked for something to happen with the land and the BDC for its commitment to the site.
BDC Director Emeritus Marvin Sixx shared some of the site's history.
“I think they saw this old, dilapidated property,” he said, noting that some on the BDC board at the time had doubts about the acquisition move.
BDC made the purchase with support from the Hancock County Commission, the Benedum Foundation, and the Northern West Virginia Brownfield Assistance Center, and then spent two years demolishing the building and restoring the land with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Ta. .
“We were selling the property as-is,” Six said, noting he had no interest in vacant land.
So, with funding from the Economic Development Authority, a new structure was built in 2016-2017.
“We now have a generation that saw this come up out of the ground,” Six said, noting that the idea of new construction is unusual in this area.
WVEDA Executive Director Chris Warner thanked BDC and everyone involved for their work, calling the agency the most active economic development organization in the state.
Hancock County Commissioner Elon Cech also offered congratulations on behalf of the county, referencing the county's slogan, “We are at the top of West Virginia.”
“Today, our slogan rings a little more true,” she said.
