Source: Energy In Depth
No surprise here; Chesapeake Energy has been named to FORTUNE Magazine’s Best Companies to Work For list for the sixth consecutive year. After an incredible 2012, the company ranked #26 in the nation, improving from #32 last year. Chesapeake has been a vital part of Ohio’s shale development, and the economic and community benefits putting the state back on track. EID has met countless Chesapeake employees and featured many on our blog. Visiting their Operation Blue program this summer and after meetings with their landowners, it’s easy to see why they were featured on the list.
Martha A. Burger, Chesapeake’s Senior Vice President – Human & Corporate Resources echoed the positive recognition:
We believe our workplace culture allows Chesapeake to recruit and retain some of the industry’s best talent. We are extremely proud of our nearly 12,000 employees who consistently deliver outstanding performance, quality, innovation and collaboration, even when faced with the cyclical nature of our industry—Martha A. Burger
Archie W. Dunham, Chesapeake’s Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, notes the meaning behind being ranked on FORTUNE:
In addition to our extraordinarily high quality assets below ground, Chesapeake has built an asset base of tremendous breadth, value and energy above ground – our employees. It is a tribute to our management team for their excellence and efforts that Chesapeake has now been recognized among the 100 Best Companies to Work For six years running—Archie W. Dunham
EID has recounted their efforts above and below ground. Back in November, we noted their encouraging production results in Harrison and Carroll Counties. Chesapeake has spent $3.3 billion in Ohio, and been a good neighbor throughout their time in the Buckeye State. Leasing with Chesapeake has even allowed one landowner to reinvest in his dairy farm. We’ve sat down with several landowners that have contracts with Chesapeake, and have all had good things to say.
It’s been my experience that life is a series of trade-offs, and about another ten years, it was about to be real quiet around Carrollton. Any time you have industry, you have coal mining, you have oil wells, you’re going to have some inconvenience. But so far, Chesapeake has done everything they said they would, and it’s certainly better than watching the community die on the vine—Jim Long (1:31)
Aside from developing the shale beneath our feet, Chesapeake gives back to eastern Ohio through community involvement. With Operation Blue, an annual summer program, Chesapeake employees give a minimum of four hours of company time to conduct community service. EID visited two of their sites in eastern Ohio this summer to talk to some of the employees about their experiences. At one site, employees were constructing wooden platforms for the Boy Scouts to put their tent on while camping. At another, the teams were clearing brush at a nature center to create a seating area. Jesse Redwine, a Chesapeake employee, explained how they help:
This is one of the things that I was pushing for. I know that our industry gets a lot of criticism over, maybe lack of information, about how we damage things, but this is a complete representation about how we do care about the environment—Jesse Redwine, Chesapeake Energy (:29)
In the past two summers, thousands of employees have volunteered more than 57,000 hours. The company even provided storm relief to Guernsey County during the big storm in early July. Companies like Chesapeake will be present in Ohio for years to come as shale development continues to grow. It’s important the oil and gas industry attracts and employs competent and hard-working people, and Chesapeake is a perfect example. We have no doubt they’ll make next year’s FORTUNE list for the seventh consecutive year.