A few years ago, Lynnda and I were on vacation in mid-July with our youngest son and his family.

Lauren, his second oldest was getting ready to go off to college. She was working a part-time summer job. During the vacation she announced she wanted to quit because, “They want me to work three days in a row.”

My son responded, “Lauren, that is what it is like in the real world. Your mother and I work five days a week and sometimes on Saturdays.”

Lauren stared at her dad. “I don’t know how you do it!”

Lauren has grown a lot in the last four years. She worked summer jobs and on campus, doing the video for most of the college’s home games in all sports except football.

Last Saturday we were proud to attend her college graduation. She graduated suma cum laude. Lauren, like most other college graduates, is now in the real world. She is working her old summer job, working on getting a career job and living at home for now. Lauren is beginning to understand how expensive rent is. Her dad helped her understand the cost of a car and insurance. Soon, she will begin repaying her college loan.

According to Zip Recruiter, in 2024 the average liberal arts degree graduate starting salary was $41,000 a year. Business and other science degrees are higher. Nursing starting salary is $55,000-65,000 depending on area of the country. Engineering average starting salary is $75,000. All of these can vary.

Lauren has a liberal arts degree. In her area a cheap apartment is $1,500 per month. She will need a room mate(s) when she decides to find her own place. A lot of college grads will probably be living with their parents for some time until they get a few raises or change to a higher-paying job. — a good opportunity to save for the future.

The world has changed a lot since I graduated. I had an engineering degree. Back then, my apartment, new car loan with no down payment, insurance and student loan payment made up only around 40% of my salary. It helped me to save for our first house. The real world can be harsh. It helps to understand what the reality is and plan as best we can.

In my corporate life, many of our managers and executives in Houston had forgotten what it was like in the real world of the field location where the customers were and the revenue was generated. The lack of real-world knowledge showed in their decision making when they sent equipment so large it couldn’t get on a West Virginia well site. In one of the most successful companies I worked for, the CEO started as a field engineer who had never forgotten his roots. Even as CEO he periodically when to the field to see his crews in action. When I needed something important, I could call him directly and usually get what I needed.

It is easy to live in a fantasy world based on our own beliefs or the way we would like things to be. Truth, facts and reliable data are important. When ignored bad things happen to good people. A goal was set to in Washington by our previous President to electrify transportation and have everyone drive electric vehicles. California is trying to legislate gasoline cars out of existence. California shut down a nuclear power plant and want to get rid of fossil fuels. They added wind and solar to their grid to replace nuclear and some fossil fuel power. Californians are having to deal with high costs, brown outs and blackouts when power demand is high. No one did the simple math or asked where will the power will come from for EVs.

In the real world, intermittent power like wind and solar has a place, base load dependable 24/7/365 power like natural gas, coal, nuclear and geothermal power is needed to keep lights, heat, air conditioning and data centers running.

Last week the Shale Crescent USA team was at SelectUSA in Washington, D.C., an event put on by the U.S. Commerce Department. For over 10 years it has been bringing foreign companies to the USA to encourage investment.

This year, another record number of foreign investors attended. The Shale Crescent USA team had 52 meetings set up with companies prior to the event compared to 32 last year. SCUSA shares its leads and prospects with the West Virginia Development Office, JobsOhio and Team Pennsylvania. SCUSA’s focus is on manufacturing companies. The goal is to on-shore more manufacturing and create high-wage jobs. We are still debriefing our trip. I have three stacks of business cards from my meetings. We have more active projects and leads than last year. Companies are coming. The question is, where in the USA? Our main competitors are the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas.

This year, SCUSA had a 10- by 20-foot booth. Double the size of last year. Almost all of our meetings with companies were at the booth. The new booth and messaging got a lot of attention and prospects. Manufacturers come to the USA first for our large and growing market. Second is energy. Most had no idea of the Shale Crescent or where Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are and the energy advantage we have. Once they knew it was easy to be considered for their projects. One company is even considering moving a project committed to another country to SCUSA because of our energy advantage. No one asked to have a renewable energy component in their energy mix, even European companies. I only heard “tariffs” mentioned once. These companies think long term, 30-40 years.

The focus of the companies we met with was energy cost and reliability. They care about the planet. They also live in the real world where profits are needed to stay in business. Our region can help them succeed.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA, www.shalecrescentusa.com. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. He is a professional speaker and author of four books and numerous published articles.