By ANDY ELDER

PA Business Central Editor

STATE COLLEGE — In a little more than a week, on June 10, Pennsylvania Business Central will debut its sister publication —  Marcellus Business Central.

If you’re a subscriber, or a regular follower of Pennsylvania Business Central, you were provided a sneak preview of Marcellus Business Central wrapped around our May 6 issue.

As we told you then, the Marcellus Shale play in Pennsylvania and, more specifically, our region of central Pennsylvania is well on its way to evolving into the business story of a lifetime.

One estimate of the value of the Marcellus play, a majority of which lies beneath Pennsylvania soil, is that over a 30- to 50-year span, the gas could produce $2.2 trillion of value. That magnitude of measurement is usually reserved for federal budgets and deficits.

With that kind of potential and the constantly evolving issues surrounding the play on both sides, interest continues to spike.

We feel Marcellus Business Central will help address that interest.

In our first issue of each month, we plan to focus on Marcellus-related issues and stories. In addition, we will continue to bring you our popular People Notes, Business Briefs and For The Record sections.

We plan to fill the rest of the issue with content related to Marcellus Shale.

A lot of the stories will originate from our core 16-county coverage area. Still more will come from four additional counties — Fayette to the south and Tioga, Bradford and Susquehanna from the northern tier. Those counties, especially the northern tier trio, have instructive stories to tell having been at the epicenter of the play from its start.

As we always have with Pennsylvania Business Central, we welcome news releases, story submissions and suggestions for story ideas.

And, going forward, we hope to introduce you to some of the people involved in the industry. Two new features — Faces of Marcellus and Women of Marcellus — will help tell the stories of businesses and individuals connected to the wide-ranging businesses capitalizing on the play.

If you know of a business that has emerged or re-invented itself, let us know.

If you are familiar with a woman who is flourishing in a male-dominated industry, let us know.

No one can predict what’s to come with this groundbreaking development, but it should be an interesting journey.

We hope you’ll join us each month as the story unfolds.