Anchor Drilling Fluids expands into Ohio
Anchor Drilling Fluids USA Inc. has opened a plant in Wellsville, Ohio, that will serve energy producers in the Utica and Marcellus shales.
The Tulsa-based company's new facility, with a daily capacity of 10,000 barrels, is located in the Wellsville Intermodal Industrial Park.
"This is an exciting day for Anchor and the state of Ohio," CEO Bob West said Monday.
Drilling fluids produced by Anchor help cool drill bits, maintain wellbore stability and remove cuttings from wells, among other functions.
The eastern Ohio plant is located near producers in the Utica Shale, a natural gas- and oil-rich formation that lies 8,000 feet beneath the surface in parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. The Marcellus runs through some of the same areas, above the Utica.
"The Utica Shale reportedly has recoverable reserves of over 940 million barrels of oil and 38 trillion cubic feet of natural gas," Anchor President Phil West said. "Development of this U.S. energy resource will significantly contribute to long-term economic growth and job creation in Ohio and the region."
Anchor also invested with Cimbar Performance Minerals in a barite processing plant next to the Wellsville drilling fluids facility.
Barite, or barium sulfate, helps increase the density of drilling fluids.
- ROD WALTON, World Staff Writer
Kitchen sink creator wins StartUp Cup
Roger Shollmier, the creator of a super-functional kitchen sink, walked away $30,000 richer Tuesday evening after being named the first-place winner of an annual entrepreneurial competition.
Shollmier and six other finalists were among a crowd that gathered at the Tulsa Community College Center for Creativity to learn the winners of the top three prizes in this year's TCC StartUp Cup, which is sponsored by the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation.
Giving a thumbs-up, Shollmier simply said, "Wow" when he learned he had won first place.
Asked what winning means to him, he said: "I don't even know if I can answer that question. It just means the heart, the passion and the work and the coaching is unbelievable."
Shollmier said he will use the money for social media efforts to grow his startup.
"I'm in shock" he said.
The reception and awards ceremony, complete with a video presentation, capped a competition that began in April when 76 entrepreneurs submitted entries.
- LAURIE WINSLOW, World Staff Writer
Foreclosures decline 35 percent from last year
Despite an uptick in October, Tulsa-area home repossessions were still significantly less common through the first 10 months of this year compared with 2011.
Real estate data service RealtyTrac Inc reports that 577 foreclosures were filed last month, resulting in a foreclosure rate of one for every 710 households across metro Tulsa. That's up 6.5 percent from September, but this year's pace is down 35.6 percent through 10 months.
Tulsa-area foreclosures compare to a national average of one for every 706 households, which was up 3.3 percent from September. But foreclosures were down 19.2 percent for the year so far.
Margo Mitchell, CEO of Consumer Credit Counseling Centers of Oklahoma, said her organization has been seeing fewer people in danger of losing their homes.
"I'm hoping that's a sign the housing market is beginning to right itself after all these years," she said.
However, the people who do come in to Consumer Credit Counseling Centers are having a difficult time getting banks to help them out with their mortgages, Mitchell said.
"It can take months upon months to get loan modifications resolved," she said.
Foreclosures across Oklahoma have declined 43.9 percent from last year, resulting in a rate of one for every 1,440 households. The state now has the 31st highest foreclosure rate in the nation.
- ROBERT EVATT, World Staff Writer
FTC approves Dollar Thrifty-Hertz merger
Hertz Global Holdings won approval from the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday for its proposed $2.3 billion merger with Tulsa-based Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to allow the deal. On Friday afternoon, Hertz said a majority of Dollar Thrifty's shares were tendered at $87.50 per share. Hertz said it planned to buy the rest directly from Dollar Thrifty on Monday, clearing the way for the merger.
The transaction already has been approved by the boards of both companies.
Dollar Thrifty has 780 employees in Tulsa, and Hertz's biggest operation is its 1,700-person center in Oklahoma City.
During the two years that Hertz has been trying to acquire Dollar Thrifty, some local leaders have expressed concern about Tulsa losing another corporate headquarters. Hertz's top officers are in Park Ridge, N.J., and Tulsa has been the home of Dollar Thrifty since 1994.
Hertz said it will evaluate staffing and functions at both locations after the merger.
- JOHN STANCAVAGE, World Business Editor
Mesa Products wins national Baldrige award
When Mesa Products Inc. was honored six years ago with an innovation and efficiency award from the U.S. Department of Commerce, leaders of the Tulsa-based company didn't realize they were about to make major changes in their business.
Now as the department's National Institute of Standards and Technology gives Mesa the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for a second time, the company's leaders know their strategy must be paying off.
The annual Baldrige Award was given this week to four companies across the nation.
Mesa was honored for streamlining its pipeline and supply manufacturing business, and working on customer service and employee satisfaction.
The other winners were Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control, North Mississippi Health Services and the city of Irving, Texas.
Mesa Products is a 30-year-old pipeline corrosion control and engineering company based at 4445 S. 74th East Ave. For most of its history, it has primarily manufactured corrosion control equipment.
"When we got this award the first time, we were really mostly a manufacturing company," said Cary Hill, chief operating and chief financial officer at Mesa. "Now about half of our business is service and engineering and the other half is manufacturing."
- KYLE ARNOLD, World Staff Writer
