A Drive for New Jobs Through Energy
The shale gas industry promises new jobs to a state badly in need of an economic boost, but the work so far isn't where you might expect it.
For Lee Zavislak, who at the age of 46 is learning to drive an 18-wheel truck, the Marcellus shale means hope for a new start.
Zavislak was a machine operator for seven years at one of the first Dasani water plants, about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh in Houston, Pennsylvania. She thought she’d work there until she retired. But bottled water sales dropped, and The Coca-Cola Company decided in 2009 to close down the production line, which once served 22 states.
“I never thought I’d be out of work for a year,” said Zavislak. She trained to drive a delivery truck, thinking there might be jobs at Coke or elsewhere, but no opportunities panned out. She liked driving, though. So her caseworker
