Weatherford plans to add 150 jobs at Youngstown facility

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Oil-and-gas company Weatherford International Ltd. intends to add 150 jobs at the facility it purchased in the city.

Weatherford purchased a building April 20 at 1110 Performance Place on Poland Avenue. The site consists of approximately 20 acres with a 153,708-square-foot building comprising 9,276 square feet of office space and a 144,423-square-foot warehouse.

Weatherford intends to open a multipurpose operations facility offering a variety of products and services that go through all stages of the industry, including well-drilling, evaluation, completion, production and intervention.

Operations are scheduled tentatively to begin in late September.

Melanie Kania, communications specialist for Weatherford, said at this time the company was not providing additional information about the products or services that will be produced at the Youngstown facility.

The Performance Place property was selected for its position within the Utica Shale, easy access to the interstate and its location within an industrial park, company officials have said.

Of the 150 positions Weatherford intends to add locally, about 75 percent will be hourly.

The company also will implement full training programs, lasting three to four months, to ensure new employees are properly trained and acclimated into their role.

Weatherford officials said they will host local job fairs for recruiting but do not have any scheduled at this time.

Kania said Weatherford has not determined any time frame on when hiring might begin.

The new Weatherford building is the former home of Polyair, a packing-products company, which Weatherford purchased for $3.4 million.

Weatherford has operations in more than 100 countries and employs more than 60,000 worldwide.