Armory event attracts 200 job-seekers

Rob Roderick knows about the energy boom in the Dakotas and eastern Montana. He was part of it then, and he wants it again.

“I saw it in the ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s,” Roderick said Thursday at the Energy Job Fair at the Libby Armory.

“It was a great way of life,” he said fondly. “We were doing well, even when oil was $32 a barrel. At least we did until it hit $7. That’s when everything changed,” he said.

“I’m looking to do it all again.”

Roderick, 58, was one of the estimated 200 who attended the four-hour fair, and at 58, he said he’s not worried about being considered too old.

“No, this is big business. They want people who know what they’re doing. They want experience, and I have it,” he said. 

Roderick, who works part-time doing maintenance work at the Lincoln County Courthouse, sees what’s transpiring in Williston, N.D., as a chance to cash in.

“The oil business has its ups and downs. I’ve seen its ups and its downs. This is an up time, and I want in,” said the former well-site geologist.

“It sounds impressive, but I was also known as a mud-logger, someone who tracks  data during the drilling process.” 

Unlike many who have uprooted themselves and made the move to Williston, Roderick said he still will make Libby his home.

“Generally, you work 20 days on and 10 days off, which is fine,” Roderick said. “They put you up while you’re on the job and then I’d just take a 12-hour train ride right back here to Libby for my 10 days off. It’s a doable thing for me, especially for the pay. They’re paying real well now.”

That pay, Roderick said, is about $50- to $80,000. More if they’re really finding it difficult to find the right people, and if the job is more dangerous.”

Citing an example, Roderick said, five years ago around Williston, there was just one fracking rig, now there are 19. It’s really taking off,” he said.

That enthusiams, the search for workers, was apparent by the number of people who attended the job fair.

“There’s a lot of interest here,” said Capt. Chris Linde, the public affiars officer for the 1889 Regional Support Group of the Army that hosted the event at the armory.

“This has been outstanding,” Lemde said. “We’re happy to see the veterans and the public.”

John Koslowsky, an employer outreach director for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, said the best part of the fair is that there are really jobs to be offered.

“Everyone of these 19 companies has positions to fill,” Koslowsky said. “Every one of them.”

Mike Flaherty, the state director of the ESGR said, now the companies are busy.

“As a result of the Libby Job Fair and the one that followed Friday in Kalispell, Haliberten has 300 follow-up interviews. That’s an awful lot of secondary interviews.”