Ron Reich, Mott, knew oil production was slowing down so he wasn't too surprised when BJ Services' Dickinson office laid him off in February.
He has no hard feelings and doesn't blame the company for the move. "It's part of the business," Reich said.
And though the company offered him options, they weren't realistic for him.
"They offered us full-time positions and a little bit of money to relocate to Dickinson, ... it was going to be hard to match the pay we were getting," Reich said, adding relocating was out of the question. "You can't just pick your family up and move to Dickinson thinking the oil industry is going to last forever. You just don't know that."
Reich had worked all over the western part of the state and into eastern Montana.
ADVERTISEMENT
"When we were really busy, we were chasing 23 or 25 rigs and by the time we got laid off we were down to about 11," Reich said.
Reich had his farm to fall back on after he was laid off, but had to make major adjustments.
"My son's coming on board at the farm and my plan was to work more in the oil field and start phasing myself out of the farm operation," Reich said. "This is going to force us to rethink those things."
