Oil labor shortage triggers training

Five years ago, Kris Grimland read a story about aerospace company Lockheed Martin Corp. hiring Russian computer technicians to bulk up its employee pool.

I said, ‘Hey, Russia has the largest oil field in the world,’” said Grimland, general manager of Maverick Stimulation Co. LLC, an Englewood-based oil and gas industry service firm that helps operators get natural gas flowing from the ground to the pipeline.

Maverick, which has offices in Colorado and Oklahoma, was growing rapidly but couldn’t find enough workers, and had to leave several jobs unfilled for nearly two years. That’s despite advertising in trade journals and local newspapers. Grimland thought Russians, experienced in oil field work, could solve his problem.