Local Reactions to Halliburton’s Arrival

Local officials have been anticipating the utica shale drilling in our area and how it will benefit the county.

Tuesday’s ground breaking marked the beginning of Halliburton’s arrival to Zanesville and also the beginning of new employment opportunities. Mike Jacoby with the Zanesville-Muskingum County Port Authority said the company’s presence will help to boost our local economy.

"I think most everybody knows, our unemployment is way too high. And while a lot of companies are kind of sitting on the fence right now in the oil and gas industry, these folks are ready to spend some money and hire some people, and that’s exactly what we need," said Jacoby.

Republican State Representative Brian Hill also attended the ground breaking. He said this opportunity not only benefits our community, but also the state.

"We lay the atmosphere to allow companies like Halliburton and the oil industry to come in and hopefully affect the price at the pump. We’d love to see the price at the pump going down, and we need to do that by drilling and developing our resources here in this state."

Around 70 percent of the new job positions with Halliburton will be recruited from Zanesville.