Photo Provided Monroe County officials attend the second annual Appalachian Basin Real Estate Conference at Oglebay Resort. Pictured, from left, are Commissioner Mick Schumacher, Port Authority Director Jason Hamman, county Treasurer Taylor Abbott and Commissioner Diane Burkhart.

WHEELING — Professionals from around the tri-state area gathered at Oglebay Resort recently to learn about corporate facility location trends in the Appalachian Basin and Ohio River corridor.

The conference was attended virtually by others located across the United States. The Appalachian Basin Real Estate Conference is produced by Shale Directories and is the first conference of its kind to identify the once-in-a-generation development opportunities created by downstream natural gas and its derivatives in the Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania tri-state area.

Conference attendees had the opportunity to hear leaders discuss the current state of the petrochemical and plastics industries and where they believe future opportunities will unfold, given the history of polymer and plastics production domestically and globally.

The Monroe County Port Authority sponsored the infrastructure panel. Port Authority Director Jason Hamman delivered a presentation highlighting several projects located along the rail-served industrial corridor bordering the Ohio River in eastern Monroe County. Infrastructure development has included projects with rail, barge and pipeline components. He said Monroe County’s industrial corridor is perfectly positioned to attract the downstream opportunities from the region’s emerging petrochemical sector.

Monroe County Commissioners Mick Schumacher and Diane Burkhart also attended the March 25 conference, along with Monroe County Treasurer Taylor Abbott.