BRUCE VERNYI, Editor-in-Chief
E-mail: bvernyi@penton.com

We are going into the New Year with a new name for this magazine, capping a year that saw many changes put into place that put a better focus on the way we address the welding industry.

Even with all the alterations — the obvious and the not-so-obvious — we expect to make a few more improvements as we go on. But you won't see any changes as significant as changing our name.

Our Publisher, Bob Rosenbaum, explains the reasons that led to changing our name in the Publisher's Message. For the most part, the new name reflects what we are doing to fulfill our mission statement to help our readers to compete and to thrive in this challenging business world.

We hope and expect you will like the changes we've made and the new things we are planning to do, and we're looking forward to a great New Year.

One of the changes we have made is to be more active in gathering and presenting information, and this month's cover story is evidence of that.

We sent Senior Editor Richard Mandel to Alberta, Canada, in early December to take a look at how welding is tied in to the rapid development of the region's huge oil sands deposits. Those oil sands hold more potential petroleum reserves than Saudi Arabia, and are expected to provide significant quantities of oil to the United States and the rest of the world over the next 30 years.

Richard arrived in Ft. McMurray – the boom town that lies on the edge of the Athabasca oil sands fields – on Dec. 4, and he spent three days there. As he'd told us on his return, the average temperature during his stay was a brisk – 4 degrees F. (– 20 C.).

One of the things Richard found was a crying need for welders in Ft. McMurray and the surrounding region. While skilled workers of every stripe are needed to develop the huge petrochemical complexes being built in Alberta, the demand for welders stands out, to build the pipelines, refineries and holding tanks for the many projects that are underway, as well as to maintain the vehicles and equipment that support the construction.

It's no secret that there is a need for welders across the U.S. However, the Alberta oil sands projects, because of the wealth that is in petroleum, looms like a black hole that can attract skilled welders with huge pay packages. As with any boom town, though, that pay offered in Alberta is tempered by a local high cost of living, to where the kid serving your McDonalds meal earns $10 per hour.

The place that this story has for most job shops is that many parts for the infrastructure and for the equipment supporting these oil projects are being built outside of Alberta. For example, fabrication shops as far away as China are assembling refineries in sections and shipping them to Alberta by boat.

That business is only going to grow over the coming years, and that's where a piece of the projects can be brought home. This is the time for the smart shop owner to build the foundation and relationships that pulls in some of that business.