Bettis firm, dumped by EQT, welcomed at CNX
For a while, John Bettis thought the gravel company he started with his brother, Jerome, the former Steelers running back, was blacklisted by the oil and gas industry.
It happened after the largest natural gas producer in the U.S., Downtown- based EQT Corp., changed hands in a proxy fight in 2019 and the new CEO, Toby Rice, no longer wanted to buy what the Bettis brothers were selling, which was a kind of matchmaking gig to find minority-owned businesses to bid on EQT jobs.
The fallout resulted in a $66 million lawsuit against EQT, which is still pending, and a retreat for the Bettis brothers.
“We just fell out of grace with the industry,” John Bettis said. The lawsuit, plus the industry downturn over the past year, had taken their business out of the oil and gas game.
But after months of trying for a “restart,” Cecil-based CNX Corp. has contracted with Bettis brothers for the exact service they once provided to EQT: bringing minorityowned businesses and job candidates to CNX’s attention.
“This is our comeback,” John Bettis said Thursday. “And it’s starting with CNX.”
He said he got the call from CNX in the fall and has been in talks with the oil and gas driller since October. ( That was around the time that EQT was rumored to be making a play to acquire CNX.)
Eventually, Bettis Brothers Consulting, a division of the gravel company, signed an agreement with CNX to recruit minority candidates for its workforce and supplier network.
Bettis Brothers Sand & Gravel doesn’t do work for CNX, but John Bettis said he’s hoping to bid on projects soon.
“They’re not saying, ‘We’re going to give you any work.’ But it’s an opportunity for us to compete on an even playing field,” he said.
According to the company’s corporate responsibility report for 2019, it set a target of 25% of new hires being women or minorities, and it surpassed that goal with 32% that year.
CNX has also zeroed in on the “hire local” message, making it the centerpiece of its environmental, social and governance efforts. The idea is that by being a local company with
local workers and vendors, CNX is both invested in keeping things clean on the ground and held accountable for its work by other locals.
On Thursday, it pledged to buy all of its goods and services from companies that have a 90% local workforce and to spend 40% of its smallbusiness dollars on local companies. So far this year, CNX has spent $47 million on contracts with small businesses, with 34% of that going to local firms.
John Bettis said the biggest challenge for many local minority businesses is scale. A company like CNX, which has nearly 1,000 vendors in its database eligible for bidding, often picks bid winners by their size as a proxy for capability, he said.
“They don’t get a chance to see you,” he said.
“The oil and gas industry lacks diversity right now,” John Bettis added. “Through our years of working with EQT, we build a great network of minority companies.”
CNX will now be a beneficiary of that network.
CNX also is partnering with The Bus Stops Here Foundation, which works with underprivileged innercity kids to help them “distinguish between healthy and unhealthy choices.” Jerome Bettis and CNX’s CEO, Nick DeIuliis, have scheduled a visit to Sto-Rox High School as part of the effort.
CNX spokesman Brian Aiello said the partnership is also meant to raise awareness of the oil and gas industry and grow “the available pool of minorityand women- owned businesses who can participate in these opportunities in the energy space.”