The Appalachian Basin Real Estate Conference presented by Bryce Custer, Broker, NAI Ohio River Corridor and produced by Shale Directories is the first real estate conference to identify the once-in-a-generation land development opportunities as the result of the downstream natural gas development in the Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania areas.
The Appalachian Basin Real Estate Conference will provide a comprehensive view of the once-in-a-generation industrial and commercial development in the region. A wide array of commercial activities are coalescing around the Appalachian Basin. This is your chance to learn how you can take advantage of these opportunities.
We have lined up an exciting list of the top real estate, energy, land development, and economists. You’ll learn ho to transform your business to take advantage of these explosive developments in our own backyard!
Attendees will also network with industry experts and fellow participants and prepare your company for these land development opportunities. Reservations and Special Room Rates will be available soon.
Breakfast and Registration | Coffee and Light Refreshments
Welcome | Joe Barone, President, Shale Directories, LLC
Ohio River Corridor Real Estate Opportunities | Bryce Custer, President, NAI Ohio River Corridor
Department of Energy Opportunities in the Appalachian Basin | Charles Zelek, United States Department of Energy
West Virginia’s Petrochemical Initiative | James Wood, Director, CERC-ACTC, and Interim Director, West Virginia Energy Institute
Break – Property Networking
Development Opportunities in the Appalachian Basin | Adam Bruns, Managing Editor, Site Selection Magazine
Manufacturing in the Appalachian Basin | Joseph C. Eddy, President/CEO, Enhanced Technologies, LLC
Lunch
Federal Opportunity Zones in the Appalachian Basin | Austin Power, Manager, New Market Tax Credits, Novogradac
Oil & Natural Gas Outlook in the Appalachian Basin | George Stark, Director, External Affairs, Cabot Oil & Gas
Ohio River Valley Infrastructure and Logistics | Mark Locker, Director, Manager for Maritime, Freight Mobility and Logistics, ODOT
Concluding Remarks | Joe Barone, Shale Directories, LLC
Custer has experience in all aspects of commercial real estate including acquisition, disposition and development of office, retail and industrial projects. As an active real estate investor for over 20 years, Custer understands the challenges facing both buyers and sellers in sale and lease transactions. Utilizing his experience from prior businesses, he works to discover critical success factors to develop solutions that meet the needs of both parties.
His current focus is serving the needs of the Petrochemical, Oil & Gas, Derivative Industries and Energy Services companies capitalizing on the drilling and exploration of the Utica/Marcellus Shale in eastern Ohio and the West Virginia panhandle, which includes the Appalachian Basin and the Ohio River Corridor. His primary focus is in the area of site selection for industrial clients utilizing rail transport throughout Ohio and West Virginia and barge transportation along the Ohio River.
Dr. Chuck Zelek is a senior economist with the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Fossil Energy (FE) in Washington D.C. In this capacity, he conducts energy market analyses to inform FE’s fossil energy research, development, and demonstration programs, as well as contributes to related policy and regulatory decision making relevant to the energy sector. Dr. Zelek has worked in the field of energy economics for over 20 years across positions in academia and government. He has conducted research internationally in the Philippines, supported formulation of the Energy Title of the 2008 Farm Bill as a senior economist for the Department of Agriculture, currently serves as the DOE point of contact for the Tri-State Governors Shale Coalition, and directly supports DOE efforts surrounding the resurgence of an Appalachian petrochemical industry. Dr. Zelek completed his BA at Ohio University, MS at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and PhD at Purdue University.
Adam Bruns has served as managing editor of Site Selection magazine since February 2002. In the course of reporting hundreds of stories for Site Selection, Adam has visited companies and communities around the globe. A St. Louis native who grew up in the Kansas City suburbs, Adam is a 1986 alumnus of Knox College, and resided in Chicago; Midcoast Maine; Savannah, Georgia; and Lexington, Kentucky, before settling in the Greater Atlanta community of Peachtree Corners, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
James Wood is the director of the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center, Advanced Coal Technology Consortium and the interim director of the Energy Institute, both based at West Virginia University. Prior to this, he was board chair and chief 
executive officer of ThermoEnergy Corporation, a publicly traded enterprise manufacturing water purification equipment. He was deputy assistant secretary, Office of Clean Coal in the U.S. Department of Energy from 2009-2012 where he was responsible for the U.S. Government ‘s Clean Coal Program consisting of approximately $4.5 billion of Congressional appropriations for research and demonstration projects related to carbon capture and storage, advanced power generation cycles, fuel cells, and advanced integrated gas combined cycle (IGCC) processes.
Prior to his government service, he was president & CEO of Babcock Power Inc., a private enterprise he and his partners founded to hold certain assets acquired from an insolvency proceeding of Babcock Borsig AG, Oberhausen, Germany in 2002. Babcock Power Inc. serves electricity generators and industrial customers worldwide by supplying heat recovery steam generators, heat exchangers, feed water heaters, condensers, steam generators, combustion, and environmental systems.
Wood has 30 years of experience in the power industry. Between 1996 and 2001, he served as president & COO of the Babcock & Wilcox Co., and executive vice president of McDermott International, Inc., its parent. Prior to that, he was president of WTI International, Inc. and sr. vice president and general manager of Wheelabrator Environmental Systems, Inc. a major independent waste=to-energy power producer, both subsidiaries of Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc. His international experience includes periods of residency in Italy, India, Colombia, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. He represented the U. S. as a delegate to the 1995 Presidential Mission on Sustainable Energy and Trade to China.
He has accepted federal appointment s to the National Coal Council, a Department of Energy federal advisory committee serving the U.S. Secretary of Energy, and the U.S.-Egypt Presidents’ Council, an advisory body to the U.S. Vice President during the Clinton Administration. He is a 20-year former Trustee of Clarkson University and is an ASME Fellow.
Wood received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University and his MBA with a concentration in international finance from Kent State University.
Austin Power is a manager in the Dover, Ohio, office of Novogradac where he specializes in the federal and state new markets tax credit (NMTC) industries, the historic tax credit industry, and opportunity zones transactions. Mr. Power works extensively on 
financial statement audits, tax return preparation, cost certification audits, compliance reporting, and NMTC allocation applications.
He has contributed to various publications including the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits and is a frequent speaker at the company’s NMTC pre-conference workshops. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance and his master’s degree in business administration from Walsh University. Mr. Power is licensed in Ohio as a certified public accountant.
George Stark is the Director of External Affairs for Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation. In this role, George directs external and internal outreach including government affairs, advertising, media relations, corporate social responsibility, and communications campaigns. He also oversees efforts in building community relationships and furthering workforce development and natural gas utilization within the industry.
In addition to his roles on several oil and natural gas industry organizations, George currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce, The Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, and the Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Dickinson College and is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh. Prior to Cabot, George worked at Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania/Maryland for 15 years and most recently held the position of Director of External Affairs during his tenure. He lives in Peters Township, Pennsylvania with his wife and three daughters.
Joe Eddy recently retired as President/CEO, Eagle Manufacturing Company, Wellsburg, WV and Executive VP, Justrite Safety
Group, Chicago, IL. He currently manages his own oil/gas development company, Enhanced Technologies, and HeritageHoldings LLC, a real estate development trust.
He serves on and is past Chairman, West Virginia Manufacturers Association and the WVMA Education Foundation boards, and also serves on these boards; President of West Virginia Northern Community College Foundation, WVNCC Petroleum Technology Advisory, McDonough Leadership Advisory at Marietta College, Regional Economic Development Partnership, Wheeling Jesuit University Engineering Advisory, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond-Industry Advisory Board, National Association of Manufacturers, National Institute of Standards & Technology-MEP Advisory, West Virginia Economic Development Authority, WVU Global Supply Chain Advisory, Shale Crescent USA, The Oglebay Foundation, The Joseph and Debra Eddy Foundation, and has endowed the Joseph Eddy Technology Scholarship at WVNCC.
Mark is the Manager for Maritime, Freight Mobility and Logistics within the Division of Planning, Ohio Department of
Transportation. Mark conducts and participates in Statewide Planning activities, ie. Long Range Transportation Plan, Corridor, Freight and Economic Development Studies etc. Ohio has the distinction of having the first large program statewide FAST Actcompliant Freight Plan in the United States. Mark coordinates with Ohio’s maritime partners to understand and enhance the state’s freight infrastructure and is project manager for Ohio’s Statewide Maritime Strategy. He was appointed by three US DOT Secretaries to the Marine Transportation System National Advisory Council (MTSNAC) which advises the US Secretary on Freight and Maritime matters.
He serves as Ohio’s representative to AASHTO and MAASTO on Special Committees for Freight, Council on Water transport, the State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC), Freight and Truck Platooning. Mark is Ohio’s representative to the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers and the Mid America Freight Coalition. He is a professional planner and proud Ohio State University Buckeye with over 31 years public sector experience.
Oglebay Resort and Conference Center
465 Lodge Drive
Wheeling, WV 36003
(304) 241-2545
CLICK HERE to book your room at the special Conference rate.
Questions? Contact Joe Barone, Shale Directories, (610) 764-1232 or email.
