By: Kristie Kubovic, Director of Communications, Shale Media Group
Contribution By: Adam Larson, Staff Writer, Shale Media Group
Edited By: Mindy Gattner, Editor, Shale Media Group
Photo By: Shale Media Group

The Pittsburgh Business Times will be hosting the 2015 Energy Leadership Awards on Thursday, May 14, 2015 at the Hilton Garden Inn Southpointe in Canonsburg, PA. The winners of around 20 categories will be announced at the Energy Gala that evening.

“This program honors individuals who have paved the way for the vibrant growth of our region’s energy sector. The Business Times recognizes all typeas of energy leadership – from energy companies that explore and drill for gas and oil to the attorneys and accountants who support them. The 2015 Energy Leadership Awards will honor all categories, including natural gas, oil, coal, nuclear, wind, and solar,” explained Richard Cerilli, Marketing Director, Pittsburgh Business Times.

More than 400 people attended last year’s event, which was held at the Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington, PA. At the 2014 Energy Gala, Daniel Rice IV, CEO, Rice Energy; Toby Rice, President and COO, Rice Energy; and Derek Rice, Vice President of Exploration and Geology, Rice Energy, won Energy Executives of the Year.

Rice Energy formed in 2009 and quickly become successful in southwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. The upstream shale oil and gas producer even went public on the New York Stock Exchange in late February 2014. In Derek Rice’s brief remarks while accepting the award, he thanked his brothers for their leadership in the company and expressed, “The real success and growth of this company are due to their efforts.”

In addition to the Rice brothers, Dave Dudo, Senior VP of Operations, Beemac Trucking, was awarded the 2014 Service Provider Award. Providing services to customers throughout North America, Beemac Trucking is a long-haul, steel hauling, flatbed carrier and logistics company, based in Ambridge, PA. Beemac is a transportation leader in hauling and compressed natural gas (CNG). The company is revolutionary with their push to go green with CNG, a domestically abundant, clean, safe, quiet, powerful, efficient, affordable, and economical fuel source that also offers America energy security. At the 2014 Awards, Dudo relayed, “I am honored to receive this award. All of us at Beemac are very excited about our Green Project.”

In 2013, Beemac purchased 20 new CNG powered tractors. Then, in September 2014, the company completed and opened Bee Green CNG Filling Station, a CNG refueling station in Ambridge, PA. This was the first (and remains the only) CNG refueling station in Beaver County. Plus it was only the sixth across southwestern Pennsylvania. The company is also ordering 15 additional CNG tractors. Additionally, Beemac Trucking was named the 2015 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards Trucking Company of the Year at the Northeast Oil & Gas Awards.

Also in 2014, NiSource Midstream Services received the Midstream Award. NiSource is a midstream shale oil and gas company that provides infrastructure for gathering systems, processing plants, transmission pipelines, and storage fields. NiSource has significantly invested in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. NiSource located their Hickory Bend Cryogenic Processing Plant in the Mahoning Valley along the northeastern Ohio-western Pennsylvania border, which came online in late 2013 and is the fountainhead of their development in the Utica Shale.

Here is the full list of last year’s categories and winners:

• Best Brand Awareness Campaign: Range Resources
• Coal Leadership: John Stilley, Amerikohl Mining Inc.
• Corporate Social Engagement: Mike Schiller, Green Building Alliance
• Deal of the Year: Consol Energy Inc. and the Allegheny County Airport Authority
• Deal of the Year: Mariner West Pipeline
• Educator: Darryl Husenits, Consol Energy Inc.
• Energy Executives of the Year: Daniel Rice IV, Toby Rice, & Derek Rice, Rice Energy
• Energy Innovation: Volker Hartkopf, Carnegie Mellon University
• Government: Mario Leone Jr., Monaca
• Hall of Fame: George Westinghouse
• Midstream: NiSource Midstream Services LLC
• Midstream: XTO Energy
• Nuclear: Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC
• Real Estate: Dan Adamski, Jones Lang LaSalle
• Rising Star: Sean Luther, Green Building Alliance
• Service Provider: Dave Dudo, Beemac Trucking
• Student Projects: SolarCell
• Student Projects: The Shale Academy
• Student Projects: JA Careers in Energy
• Sustainable: Vivian Loftness, Carnegie Mellon University
• Workforce Development: ShaleNET

This year’s event will be held from 5-8 pm, with registration opening at 4:30 pm. There will be a seated awards program in the ballroom from 5-6 pm. A reception will follow from 6-8 pm in an adjoining ballroom where there will be several food stations and hors d’oeuvres, along with an open bar. The Pittsburgh Business Times will also be producing a special supplement honoring the winners that will be inserted in the May 15 edition.

Shale Media Group (SMG) is the news, information, and education resource dedicated to the shale oil and gas industries by messaging across video, Internet, publications, events, and radio. For more, check out ShaleMediaGroup.com to access all platforms, including: TheMarcellusShale.com, TheUticaShale.com, and ShaleEnergyNow.com. Kristie Kubovic is the Director of Communications at Shale Media Group. Contact her at Kristie@ShaleMediaGroup.com.