A Strategic
Path Forward.
PMC Connects Program Recap
At the September PMC Social Kurt Anderson President of The Petroleum And Mining Club presented an initiative to help with our industries and club's 3 largest problems:
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A Widening Perception Gap: Oil, Gas, and Mining are bad. The jobs in the industry are outdated and bad. This is a shrinking field of opportunity.
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Talent Pipeline Crisis: Experienced industry leaders are retiring faster than the job market can replace them. The resource industry's knowledge and network are shrinking.
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Education is Expensive: Learning via a University education or by working in the field come with major risks and costs. The most efficient and effective way of learning is from those who are doing. Students and Young Professionals lack the network to find these types of opportunities.
Solution,
PMC Connects: our Foundation. Your Future.
The PMC will provide the PMC Connects program with a platform (website and network), of industry professionals that have established connections. That they are willing to share with interested students, young professionals, industry leaders, educators and companies.
PMC Connects maintains a database (website) that is open to the public that will provide Industry updates, Educational Opportunities, Jobs, Scholarships, etc. that connects people to industry and industry to people.
"The value of this program isn't the slides we create; it's the personal contact list we build. Students don't need a corporate website; they need a name, a phone number, and a referral. You have those relationships."
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The Presentation
Program Investment Proposal: PMC Connects Platform
Thanks for joining the conversation! As members of the PMC and its board it is up to us to determine the direction of the Petroleum and Mining club. PMC connect is looking for your input on how we move forward. Below you will find the Investment Proposal for the PMC Connects Program/Platform. After reviewing, please join us in casting your vote and deciding the future of the PMC.
The "PMC Connects" program addresses the crucial talent pipeline gap in the petroleum, energy, and mining industries. It seeks to build networks, knowledge and connections to help emerging generations re-discover our industry's needs and opportunities. Simply Stated: It fixes the messaging to attract high-potential talent, and provides the personal connections that translate interest into employment.
To transition the program from a concept into a sustainable, high-value asset (a real-time, digital networking hub); The PMC Connects program requires an initial financial investment.
This document outlines the case for allocating up to $25,000 (12% to 15% of the treasury) for platform and program development, along with building the foundation for core administrative support.
PMC CONNECTS: Our Foundation. Your Future!
Why Invest: Pros of Funding the PMC Connects Platform.
This investment is not just future-proofing the PMC, it is about maximizing benefits by utilizing and growing our greatest asset: Our Network.
Click Each of the Tabs below to learn more.
A Mission That Invites and Excites: Elevating Our Network
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Definitive Digital Hub: We transform the PMC into a definitive, modern digital hub - a professional, easy-access, and interactive platform that dramatically raises our profile and extends our reach beyond the local chapter.
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Industry Influence: This program firmly positions PMC Connects as the go-to talent resource and essential go-to for resources in the energy, oil & gas, and mining sectors, ensuring sustained relevance and industry recognition.
PMC Connects strategically elevates the club's profile, transforming our network into a definitive, modern talent pipeline for the energy, mining, and oil & gas industries.
Potential Risks: Cons of Funding the Digital Platform
We recognize the inherent risks associated with launching a new digital initiative, but have developed concrete strategies to ensure PMC Connects is a reliable and sustainable asset. Our plan effectively addresses the three primary areas of concern:
Click Each of the Tabs below to learn more.
Concern: The initial development cost represents a significant draw on the club's treasury.(Addressing Upfront Cost)
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Mitigation Strategy: We will utilize a Phased Development (MVP) Approach. The initial launch focuses only on essential resource-sharing functionality, spreading complex features and higher capital investment over time.
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This method ensures the initial funding request is optimized for essential features only, minimizing upfront treasury risk while demonstrating tangible, immediate value.
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The Board will Allocate funds as progress and goals are met.
A primary goal of the sponsorship piece is to recoup the full initial investment and perpetuate the PMC Connects program.
Disclosure Statement (CRITICAL)
For the purposes of transparency and compliance, the club is required to disclose the intended recipient of the development funds requested in this proposal:
The entirety of the approved funds will be directed to Ink and Online, a Marketing, Promotion and Website development and implementation company (https://www.inkandonline.com). Ink and Online LLC is owned by current Petroleum and Mining Club President, Kurt Anderson. He feels that given this project is primarily his idea, he and his team would be the best and least expensive option to bring the PMC Connects To fruition. These funds are strictly allocated to cover the costs associated with platform and website development, program rollout, marketing, and employee compensation in building the implementation phase of the PMC Connects program.
Funding Decision: Member Polling
This investment allows The Petroleum and Mining Club to immediately launch the monetization and connection engine features, turning PMC connects into a revenue-generating asset rather than a cost center.
We need a majority decision before the board commits the funds of our treasury to finalize the PMC Connects platform.
A Yes Vote (action):
Voting "Yes" authorizes an investment of $25,000 (roughly 12–15% of the treasury, paid out in stages based on performance) to launch the PMC Connects digital platform. The clubs monthly meetings, dinners networking and other activities would continue or expand.
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Platform Development: The funds will go to "Ink and Online" (a company owned by Club President Kurt Anderson) to build a digital networking hub. This hub will include databases for jobs, scholarships, internships, and industry updates.
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Operational Shift: The club transitions from a traditional "dinner club" to a "talent and education pipeline resource." The clubs monthly meetings, dinners networking and other activities would continue or expand.
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Funding Strategy: The club will attempt to recoup the investment by selling premium access and sponsorship tiers to corporate partners.
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Member Engagement: A "Core Team" or committee will be formed to manage the program. Members will be asked to share industry contacts to build the network.
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Long-Term Goal: To attract "Next Gen" talent (students/young professionals) and provide a reason for the club to exist beyond social gatherings, potentially helping recruit new board members.
A No Vote (Inaction):
The page frames a "No" vote as a decision to maintain the current status quo, which means dinner, speakers, networking, field trips and other events as available would continue.
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Continued Dwindling: The club will continue its current model of "dinner and a speaker." The current model suggests membership will continue to "dwindle" as older members retire and younger ones find no value in the current format.
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Treasury Preservation: The $25k remains in the treasury. The these funds might eventually be donated or used for a traditional scholarships until the club eventually closes.
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Loss of Knowledge: The professional networks and industry knowledge of current members will be lost because there is no system to pass them on to the next generation.
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Leadership Crisis: A "No" vote likely means the current board continues to struggle with recruitment without a new "vision" to attract successors.
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Board Questions And Anwers.
The Following are Questions, from the Board to Kurt to better understand the vision of PMC Connects.
Black, is the question
Blue is Kurt's response
Members should have the ability to ask questions at the next social in January. We want to ensure every member feels heard. During the January meeting, Kurt Anderson will present the PMC Connects proposal once more to discuss the investment and what it means for our club’s future. This is your time to get answers and share your thoughts. To help us prepare, please use the form below to submit any questions you have now; we will address these and any additional live questions during the social.
Do we need a certain number of PMC members to respond to determine if the club approves? Per our by-laws, the Board is responsible for these types of financial and opperational approvals. However, we believe a "Yes" vote is only meaningful if it has the support of our members. This investment is about the future of the PMC, and we want to move forward with the confidence that our members are invested in that future alongside us.
I recommend that you change 10% to 12% throughout the proposal, as we do not have $250K in available funds. Good point, I will make the adjustment.
I also recommend that you soften the language on the first page under “Monetization & Revenue” Pro to “Funding the platform allows us to sell premium access features to corporate partners allowing us to recoup some or all of our investment.” <- also good, I will update.
I suggest this change because we are providing a service to the natural resource industries and I think that should be the main goal of this project. Similarly, the first mitigation strategy on page 2 could be changed to: “Our goal is to recoup a portion or all of the initial investment through sponsorships.” This brings up another good point Frank. In past meetings we have discussed and adjusted our investment strategy to make the club the most money we can while maintaining a break even or loss to mitigate taxes.
I have a question on the second Mitigation Strategy. Who will comprise the Core Team? The design of the program requires members to be part of the core team, this could be a committee or another vehicle to direct the program. With it being my idea I will lead it initially, but the goal is it will bring in new members that are open and willing to engage.
Even with a well-developed platform, this appears to be a lot of work, and I don’t see any chance of PMC members volunteering to do it given our lack of success in recruiting new board members. This is also fair, but I don't think we have offered a compelling reason or a vision to join the board. If you talk to Scott or Jim the reason they left is because they did not see a value in what the PMC was offering, dinner and a speaker was not enough. I think the PMC Connects program offers that value/reason. It puts purpose back behind the PMC. I have talked with everyone of you (with the exception of Michael) and I know you feel stuck on this board and would not mind finally turning this over to someone else. Unfortunately, we have two ways of doing that in my mind, find our replacement or shut it down. This maybe gives us enough vision or value to have people say "I want / need to be a part of that."
I think this would have to be a part-time paid position for one technically savvy person. If they are paid out of the revenues collected, we may not see much return on our investment. This is true. My thought was I would utilize my people and network at Ink and Online to limit the cost while we get the program stood up.
Finally, I’m not sure that I can provide 5 relevant professional contacts anymore, as most of my colleagues are retired and that may also be true of most of our PMC members. This is one comment I have heard from a few of the members. Time is not on the club's side at the moment and that is why I'm pushing. You and each of the members still have contacts and if you reached out, or let me reach out to even your retired contacts I'll bet we could find information or other contacts that are worth passing on. I didn't design this program to be about money, it is required to build and perpetuate the plan, but I thought of it more as the club's legacy or contribution to it history and industry.
I have a very real concern wrt the GJPMC seeing a ROI on this venture without having some other pre-existing sponsors or backers already on board financially. Do you have contacts from other groups that I can present this to and potentially start gathering pledges and contributions?
How can we ensure that the club will see a good ROI? You're doing it, participating in the networking and outreach, helping build the sponsorship tiers and opportunities for return is our best chance at a good ROI. You could be the CRO (Chief Revenue Officer).
In addition, maybe we should just cap the amount of money to kick this off at $20,000.00? I'm ok with this, I'm okay with monthly payments of x. But, I don't personally want to front the PMC's costs. We also need to realize that 20k, 25k, these are budget numbers so it may be more, and if we get some early adopters it could be less. At the end of the day the club has the money and it is the club's program.
Is there any way to get matching funds up front from other clubs, entities, sponsors or backers to share the risk? Again yes, but I think we need to have something a little more substantial/sustainable to show them.
Why did GJ leave the Logo and all references? I think we need to maintain GJ in all aspects of the club's logo, social media, references, etc. When I redesigned the logo, I looked at our old logo and it did not have GJ, When I looked up the Colorado Secretary of state it is "The Petroleum and Mining Club, LLC." When I look at the original formation documents none of them have GJ or Grand Junction on them. I'm not sure why we would limit ourselves to an area, when we serve, participate and embrace industries that are global, and in turn we want those global enterprises to embrace us.
This document outlines the case for allocating $25,000 (11-12% of the total GJPMC treasury funds) to create, platform and program development, along with building the foundation for core administrative support. How was the $20,000.00-25,000.00 number arrived upon? What if we find out it will cost 2-3 times this amount? I have been building websites and databases for the last 10 years to manage my other businesses. I based the initial estimates on the time and resources I would need for the following three areas. 1. Website design (media, content and copy), user experience, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and advertising. 2. Database buildout, collection, vetting, and presentation. 3. Revenue and sponsorship collection and presentation. This will not be a LinkedIn, or Indeed website. It will be professional and user friendly on the front. It will look very straight forward but it will be compelling for people to use and trust.
For reference Ink and Online is rebuilding a private schools website in Vernal Utah. The starting price for redesign was $3,600 (I provided no content or copy), plus $400 a month for updates and backend maintenance. I have a sourdough company that paid $4500 for a very simple E-commerce store and to do the social media for them. Starting in December they have allocated $1000 per month and an additional $1000 per month for google ads. PMC Pays $300 per year. I think if you call other companies (which someone should) it would cost 2-3 times this amount.
Who is getting paid and how much are these individuals being paid? Ink and Online is who I'm proposing to build this. I would assign a project manager who works with a fair amount of specialized individuals. Graphic Designers, SEO experts, coders, etc. to help build the platform. Later we could add google ad advisors, social media producers, others as needed.
What are program cycles? Need to explain and define: Program cycles will depend on our sponsorship and membership plans, just the same as we set and collect dues each year. We would need to decide how and when PMC gets paid for its services.
Exactly how will this program become profitable and/or self-sustaining? I think how it becomes profitable and self-sustaining has been covered above.
Who owns and controls the “built out platform” if this venture fails? Whoever is in control of the PMC when they let it fail. The build out platform is owned by The Petroleum and Mining club.
What are the consequences of failure? Consequence of failure (I really like this question but it is two part), If the PMC fails to act: The knowledge, network and resources our members have will be lost. The club will continue to dine and dwindle until we donate what remains.
If the club acts and fails: We will have truly tried to reach young professionals and the next generation, we will have a collection of knowledge and a database of resources that don't currently exist that could still be passed on. And in my mind we will have tried to give the club its best chance at continuing. Oh and it will be out $20k-25k that could have been a scholarship that paid out $2000 a year at CMU.
What is Ink and Online?
Ink and Online aims to be a full service strategic partner that bridges the gap between traditional marketing materials (Print) and modern digital solutions (Online). They market themselves as a "one-stop destination" for a complete brand presence, offering services that fall into the follow categories: Print and Marketing Material, Promotional Products, Branding & Digital Design, and Digital Solutions.
Who owns I&O? Acom LLC owns 100%, Which is whole owned by Kurt Anderson.
Has I&O done this type of work/venture in the past, if so, please provide historical references and examples of previous work.
mincondt.com, sellbuyauction.com, magicsourdough.com, whitehouseacademy.com
How many owners are involved with I&O? Is it an LLC or S Corp? Currently one and it is an LLC. Would you like to invest?
Does I&O use or will use subcontractors? Yes, lots of them and interns.
What sort of liability will the GJPMC incur by using I&O? The same liability you currently have with your website, no matter who it was provided by.
Is there a corporate profile available? www.inkandonline.com
How long has I&O been in business? It was established in March of 2025. However, as i mentioned before I have been doing this for over 10 years.
The proposed expenditure provides the mechanics to make connections, but it does not provide the personal connections, which I think makes all the difference for members and the young people trying to understand a career path and how to get there. Will the core group of members designing the overall Connects program be focusing on how that will work? Certainly, I think this is the moving target. You don't just post the Mine Manager or Company Man's phone numbers on the site and say for a good career call. Networking is about introductions and some vetting. So, rollout and implementation will be a big part of this initial core groups focus.
Additionally, I would not want this part of our website to become a recruiting warehouse. We don't need to compete with LinkedIn, Indeed, or any other searchable database. I agree with this as well. I envision the platform maybe pointing people to these websites, but also giving them more knowledge to be successful in obtaining those rolls.
Do we want to focus on talking with the schools to present careers available in mining, oil & gas and energy? I think this is vital. Schools, Clubs, Companies etc. Anyone that could provide an opportunity within our industries.
I will be the first to admit PMC Connects is a big undertaking, and more for me than anyone else. I enjoy meeting for dinners and picnics and I really do like the PMC, but I don't want to be the President of a dinner club. Jerry asked me a few years back if the only reason I was still in the club was because my wife is the social director? At the time the answer was "yes, I also like the people and it's a good reason for date night". Now, if I have four or five more years on the board I would like to say, I am the President of a dinner club that is reshaping the industry's future... or at least tried to.
If the membership should decide to move forward on PMC Connect, I think it would be good to add a tab for current mining and petroleum innovations. Several come to mind:
Autonomous mining equipment and mining equipment run by joy sticks from afar. Entry-less mines using robots and use of drones for mapping and surveying. Directional drilling. Air suspension wheels that last as long as the haul truck. Articles about these and many more new technologies can be presented on the web site. The removal of the landside at the Bingham Pit using equipment run by joy sticks is a good example of the type of mining operation that high school and college students may find fascinating. Just thinking out loud. I agree, I think there is a potential opportunity to partner with Mine Magazine or Mining people etc that would help supply compelling information that keeps club members updated and informed.
Who would spearhead and continue the connect program if Kurt was not able or available? This is the reason we need other members involved in the program. The original presentation outlines building a Core Team: Outreach Lead, Content and Marketing Lead, Logistics and Tech. While current membership may not be interested in being on the board, these new role provide will opportunity for learning, leadership, and networking that the club does not currently provide.
The second part of the question, I would assume is what would happen to the PMC Connects platform? Ink and Online has a growing number of employees and specialist that would be able to continue to build the platform at the direction of the board or steering committee described above.
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A Global Misconception
New Sandvik report reveals opportunity to speak to next generation of mining engineers.
New research from global engineering group, Sandvik, has revealed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address the mining industry’s dwindling pipeline of engineering talent and reinvigorate its reputation as a pillar of sustainable socio-economic growth.
The report, The future of mining talent: What STEM graduates really think, and what the industry can do about it, shows that while awareness of mining is low among young engineers, many are open to joining the sector once they understand its modern realities and role in tackling global sustainability challenges.
Based on a survey of 824 STEM students and graduates across nine countries, the study found that nearly 40% of respondents are unfamiliar with mining, and a similar proportion cite this as a reason for not considering it as a career. Yet the same survey shows a major opportunity for change: more than 90% said they would be more likely to consider mining if convinced that it contributes meaningfully to addressing climate change.
“The findings highlight a huge untapped opportunity for our industry,” said Stefan Widing, President and CEO of Sandvik. “When young engineers understand that today, mining is not just about extraction, it’s about tackling some of the world’s most important challenges using digitalization, automation, and electrification, they see a sector where they can apply their skills to make a real difference.”
With almost half the US mining workforce expected to retire by 2029 and engineering enrollments declining at universities globally, the report calls for greater collaboration between companies, academia and policymakers to rebuild the talent pipeline.
“Mining offers the engineering challenge of a lifetime,” said Mats Eriksson, President, Mining at Sandvik. “The transition to a low-carbon future will be powered by minerals, but it will be led by the next generation of minds bold enough to transform how we mine.”
The full report, The future of mining talent: What STEM graduates really think, and what the industry can do about it, is available at www.home.sandvik
"Once we get students connected to our field, we see a change in mindsets."
The purpose of the Club is to cultivate the social, educational and business relations of its members; to broaden their interests in the pursuit of their occupations; to encourage and foster the exchange of technology between the Petroleum and Mining industries; and to contribute to the continued improvement of the quality of life in our community.
