In this episode of the Pipeliners Podcast, Russel Treat speaks with Tyler Tunic of the SGA Natural Gas Association about industry engagement, workforce collaboration, and the evolving role of trade associations in the natural gas industry. Tyler discusses his transition from an operator role at Williams to leading industry engagement at SGA Natural Gas Association, as well as the importance of leadership development, committee engagement, and creating meaningful learning opportunities for the next generation of pipeline professionals.

The conversation also explores how organizations like SGA, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America Foundation, and Young Pipeline Professionals USA are helping connect industry professionals, strengthen workforce development, and create long-term value across the natural gas sector.

Industry Engagement and Workforce Advancement Show Notes, Links, and Insider Terms

• SGA Natural Gas Association (SGA) A natural gas industry trade association focused on training, workforce development, operational collaboration, and industry advancement.
• Young Pipeline Professionals USA (YPP USA) An organization focused on connecting, educating, and developing future leaders within the pipeline industry.
• Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) Foundation A nonprofit organization supporting research, education, and industry advancement initiatives related to natural gas infrastructure.
• American Petroleum Institute (API) The primary trade association representing the U.S. oil and natural gas industry, responsible for developing standards and recommended practices used across the industry.
• Workforce Advancement The development of employees through leadership opportunities, training programs, committee participation, and professional networking.
• Committee Ecosystem The structure of committees, sections, and leadership groups within SGA that help drive collaboration, content development, and industry initiatives.
• Learning Pipeline The continuous flow of industry knowledge, from operator experience and committee conversations to SGA’s training and development programs, that equips professionals at every stage of their career.
• Methane Emissions Reduction Operational and environmental initiatives focused on reducing methane releases from natural gas systems and infrastructure.
• Federal Air Compliance Regulatory requirements associated with air emissions and environmental compliance for pipeline and energy operators.
• Climate Reporting Corporate reporting related to emissions, sustainability initiatives, and environmental commitments.
• Industry Engagement Strategic collaboration between operators, trade associations, and industry organizations to improve efficiency, learning, and workforce development.
• Executive Council Leadership structure within SGA that helps guide committee activities and organizational priorities.
• Leadership Development Building management, communication, and organizational skills through volunteer leadership roles and industry participation.
• Flywheel Effect The self-reinforcing cycle in which active committee engagement surfaces the industry’s most pressing topics, which SGA translates into training and learning products, which in turn drives greater member value and deeper participation, continuously building momentum over time.

Industry Engagement and Workforce Advancement Full Episode Transcript

Russel Treat:
Welcome to the Pipeliners Podcast, episode 441, sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute. Driving safety, environmental protection, and sustainability across the natural gas and oil industry through world-class standards and safety programs.

Since its formation as a standard-setting organization in 1919, API has developed more than 800 standards to enhance industry operations worldwide. Find out more about API at api.org.

The Pipeliners Podcast, where professionals, Bubba geeks, and industry insiders share their knowledge and experience about technology, projects, and pipeline operations. And now, your host, Russel Treat.

Thanks for listening to the Pipeliners Podcast. I appreciate you taking the time, and to show that appreciation, we give away a customized Yeti tumbler to one listener every episode.

This week, our winner is Clint Hudson with Evonik. Congratulations, Clint! Your Yeti is on its way.

To learn how you can win this prize, stick around until the end of the episode.

This week, we speak with Tyler Tunic of the SGA Natural Gas Association about their workforce engagement and industry advancement program.

Hey, Tyler. Welcome back to the Pipeliners Podcast. It has been a long time.

Tyler Tunic:
Yes. Several years.

Russel Treat:
So, what were you doing the last time you were on the podcast? Do you remember what we talked about?

Tyler Tunic:
Yeah, we were talking about the Young Pipeline Professionals USA. I was a leader of that organization, and we were talking about how that organization was bringing impact to the industry and its ability to connect, educate, and develop the future leaders of the pipeline workforce.

Russel Treat:
So catch us up. What have you been doing since that time? And what are you doing now?

Tyler Tunic:
Since that time, I rose through the ranks. I led the organization from 2021 to 2023, and we’ve seen continued success, mainly through our annual symposium that brings young professionals across the industry and across the country to Houston for two days of great content.

That organization continues to grow. I was just recently inducted into the board in a vice president role. So continuing.

Russel Treat:
Congratulations.

Tyler Tunic:
Thank you very much. Continuing my impact there and looking forward to continuing to allow that organization not just to create leadership opportunities for young people within it, but within supporting industry organizations like the SGA Natural Gas Association, of which we are in attendance for their conference.

Russel Treat:
Yeah, we’re here at the Spring Gas Conference.

So, I want to talk a little bit about your career transition because I think this is interesting. You were with Williams when we talked with you, when you were also doing kind of your extracurriculars with the organization.

Tyler Tunic:
Yep. Yep.

Russel Treat:
And what were you doing at Williams, and what has your career been like? What are the kinds of jobs you’ve been doing with Williams since we talked last?

Tyler Tunic:
Yes. So, at Williams, I was in a variety of different roles, but most recently I was leading their air compliance and emissions reduction team.

So all things federal air compliance and what we were doing to reduce our methane and CO2 footprint, and all the great facts and figures that feed into our climate report and commitments.

So it was a great experience. And what I liked to do at Williams was always do more than my day job entailed. And that included getting involved with other groups within Williams, but more specifically outside of Williams, whether it was YPP USA or the INGAA Foundation or SGA. Just always looking for ways to create more impact in our industry.

And earlier this year, I had the opportunity to transition from Williams to being a leader at the SGA Natural Gas Association. So I’m currently the Vice President of Industry Engagement and Workforce Advancement, and my role here at SGA is to continue bringing that impact to the industry and bringing more operator perspectives into an already great organization and sustaining its impact.

Russel Treat:
A couple observations.

One, certainly, there’s a theme in your entire career here where you see the need to collaborate and contribute to the industry more broadly. And you see the need to help people become equipped to build capabilities and competencies to pursue their careers.

But this change, I mean, you’re a relatively young guy in our industry.

Tyler Tunic:
Yep.

Russel Treat:
And you’ve made a change at a relatively young age from actually working at an operator to working for a trade association. That’s kind of unusual.

But what caused you to decide to make that leap? Because I bet that wasn’t anticipated.

Tyler Tunic:
No, it wasn’t anticipated. And for me, it really just comes back to that ability to make impact and to get involved with more organizations, more companies, and kind of feeding this learning pipeline.

So I would say one thing that has characterized my career is continuing to learn more, but more specifically, creating opportunities for others to learn and to get more connected.

And that really is what helped my career, was the network that I built, the mentors that I had, and the organizations that I was a part of.

And now being a leader within an organization that’s fully aligned with that mission is really helping me create impact, not just for the industry, but for the people within it and also the young professionals that are seeking to advance their own careers.

Russel Treat:
Yeah. So what’s your role at SGA?

Tyler Tunic:
So, Vice President, Industry Engagement, Workforce Advancement.

Breaking it down, the industry engagement side. SGA has an opportunity to collaborate even more with other trade orgs out there. I mentioned the INGAA Foundation, where I was leading industry advocacy and energy education projects throughout their planning and studies process. And that’s an amazing organization.

And what can we be doing at SGA to better collaborate with the great work that the INGAA Foundation is producing? And how can that feed into this learning pipeline and create impact for SGA members and INGAA Foundation members?

Because at the end of the day, operators are members of many different organizations. And the Venn diagram of overlap between organizations like SGA and the INGAA Foundation, there’s a lot of overlap.

And how can we create the most impact for operators without duplicating efforts?

So part of that is driving strategic partnerships and coming at it from the operator perspective, that’s paying for membership dues and sending people to conferences. And how can we reflect that in the best way from an operator lens?

Russel Treat:
Yeah. So that’s a really interesting take on industry engagement.

I think you’re right. I think there’s a lot of overlap between INGAA and AGA and SGA and other organizations that are out there.

We all tend to kind of be, we’re all in the same industry. We’re all dealing with the same realities, same challenges. But each of those organizations kind of has its own unique take and its own unique set of capabilities and experiences and position within that ecosystem, if you will.

So yeah, it’s interesting.

So you said the other thing was workforce advancement.

Tyler Tunic:
So the other ecosystem here at SGA is our committee ecosystem. At SGA, all of the committees report up into me and the staff liaisons at SGA that support those committees.

And part of my role is ensuring that there is accountability, transparency, consistency, and structure in what these committees are doing so that operators like Williams, that are putting a bunch of their employees into these committees, know what they’re signing up for.

They know that they’re having great conversations, but also there’s a pipeline that takes those conversations and bubbles up the most pressing topics that our industry needs to be addressing.

And those topics can feed into the learning pipeline at SGA, where the membership, being a member of SGA, that value is increasing by putting your own employees through our network.

Russel Treat:
Yeah, I think that’s one of the things about SGA that makes it distinct from other associations in our business, really the amount of content, the amount of effort that SGA has invested over the years into learning materials.

And part of the committee work is always in conversation about, well, how do we create content, training material, that’s going to equip people that are coming into our business?

Tyler Tunic:
Yep, definitely. And there are over 60 committees at SGA.

Russel Treat:
Six zero?

Tyler Tunic:
When you look at it, it almost looks like an organizational hierarchy of an operator itself. There’s everything from HR committees to engineering to workforce development and even committees that are focused on learning and development that kind of help connect all of these dots.

And then the committees are grouped into sections. Those sections have their own committees, and then the sections feed into our executive council.

So there’s an opportunity for people to get involved, rise up through the ranks within individual committees, eventually sit on sections, and then the executive council is a feeder to the board of directors.

So there’s an amazing opportunity to be involved for a long time and create impact along the way.

Russel Treat:
Yeah, I’m going to put you on the spot a little bit. I hope you know the answer to these questions, but about how many people are involved in the committees, and about how many operators are represented?

Tyler Tunic:
I would say close to 200-ish people on committees, and operators, I would say around 40 or so that are represented on these committees.

Russel Treat:
That’s a broad swath.

Tyler Tunic:
Yeah, that’s a lot.

Russel Treat:
That’s a lot of folks. In my past, I was involved with a volunteer organization. Kind of a long story. I won’t completely unpack it, but we had 220 volunteers, and I chaired the board of that organization.

Running 220 volunteers, that is, you’re going to learn some unique and important management skills because you can’t do that by directing. You have to do that by enrolling.

So yeah, that’s a big job you found yourself in.

Tyler Tunic:
Yes. And it’s a job that I think will get a little easier over time as we start to think through what committee accountability looks like.

Because if someone that’s signing up for a committee isn’t necessarily sure what they’re signing up for or what the expectations are to be a vice chair or a chair, as we continue to get that ironed out and visible and transparent, we have a hierarchy of committee ecosystem where it’s not just on the SGA staff to be checking in on committee meetings and making sure committees are producing tangible outputs.

We have a hierarchy within our sections and executive council and board where we can almost self-police, in a way, our own ecosystem. And the staff’s there just to make sure everything’s going smoothly.

Russel Treat:
Well, and I think the other thing, too, about this kind of work that SGA does, the committee structure that you had 20 years ago is not the committee structure you have now, and the committee structure you have now is not the structure you’re going to need in another 5, 10, 20 years.

So it’s not like it’s a static thing. It’s evolving all the time.

You said something that I think is really important, and probably a lot of people don’t understand about these industry associations, is they’re there to actually create useful product for the industry.

And if you’ve got a committee and they’re meeting and getting along and enjoying each other’s company, but they’re not actually producing something useful for industry, then that’s not really what you want out of your committees.

Joining a committee should be a signal to your employer that you’re doing something that’s above and beyond. You’re going to be growing professionally and developing leadership skills just by being involved in the committee and leading a committee.

There are skills there that translate to your day job.

Tyler Tunic:
Oh, yeah.

Russel Treat:
And there are management skills there, right?

Tyler Tunic:
Correct.

Russel Treat:
You may be in a technical role in your company, but you’re not in a management role yet. And you get on one of these committees, and it opens up those possibilities because the folks in these companies, they know, they understand what it takes.

So what would you want Pipeliners to know about SGA and kind of why you came, and what your vision is for the next three to five years?

Tyler Tunic:
I would say SGA has an opportunity for everyone. It is the full value chain. It’s both field-facing and office-based roles. There’s an opportunity for everyone to create value for themselves, for their companies, and to translate that into impact to the industry.

As far as a future state at SGA, I think it’s just closing the gap on that broadness value statement that we have. Representation from all companies at all segments within our industry, everyone is reporting back that their employees are getting great insights and experience out of being involved within SGA.

And our learning products and ecosystem are being actively influenced by the work that’s being done within the committees, because it’s the professionals that are on the committees that know what is the hottest and most important thing that’s happening in the industry today.

I was at Williams just two months ago, so I feel like I still have a pulse on a lot of things. But two years from now, that pulse is going to be fading a little bit just from my own personal perspective.

So how can the committees be there to always be bubbling up what’s most important, most pressing? And how is SGA then delivering that into training and learning opportunities to fulfill this flywheel effect?

Russel Treat:
Yeah. You’ve got a big job, man.

Tyler Tunic:
Yes.

Russel Treat:
We could spend a couple hours just talking about what’s going to be required to do that and really have that impact.

Tyler Tunic:
Yeah.

Russel Treat:
But I think it’s awesome. I’ve been really impressed with what SGA has done over the last several years. I mean, they’ve really been focusing on revitalizing the organization.

They’ve looked to cast a little broader net than maybe where they were in the past, about addressing the entirety of natural gas. I think it’s awesome.

Are you excited about the job, the opportunity?

Tyler Tunic:
Yes.

Russel Treat:
Okay, I have to ask this question. It’s maybe a little off. What made you decide to make the move from the operator to the association? Because that’s a pretty big move.

Tyler Tunic:
Yep. Yeah, there’s a little evaluation spreadsheet. I’m an engineer, so I had to put pen to paper on different categories, different weightings.

And it was equally about the impact as it was just the right move for me and my family.

This opportunity, at least for now, I’m working from home. I’ve got two young kids, 5 years old and 2 years old, and this opportunity allows me to be home with them more often. And that in itself was a big influencer in the decision.

And alongside that, there’s a vision with the future state of SGA that resonates strongly with me, being able to create impact for the industry and being a part of that future.

Russel Treat:
Yeah, I like the vision on impact. I like the vision on impact.

And I think you’ll be able to do a lot there, particularly given the connections you have with the other work you’ve done with YPP and INGAA. It’s interesting, and it’s kind of a bold move for a young engineer in this business.

Tyler Tunic:
Yeah, I think it’s similar to what I was doing at Williams, where people saw what I was doing as an opportunity to advance their own careers.

You can’t just show up to work every day and just do the tasks that are assigned to you within the role that your job description entails.

There are opportunities to do more within your company, getting involved in other groups within it, but then doing things outside of your company, getting involved with industry organizations.

And I think this move, coming from an operator, now working for a trade association, is a signal that those opportunities exist.

And the more operator and industry influence we can put into these organizations, there’s an extreme amount of value that people can bring to a trade organization. And it’s a great option.

Russel Treat:
Well, and I think the other thing, too, is, and this is just me kind of talking from a personal standpoint, but I love this business.

I knocked around early in my career after the military in a number of different businesses around manufacturing and different things. And when I found the gas business, which is where I started, and I do some liquid stuff and other things, but when I found it, I’m like, these are my homies. I’m retiring here.

So I’m getting close to being able to completely fulfill that vision, although I don’t know if I’m capable of retiring. That’s a whole other conversation.

Anyways, look, it’s great to have you back. Great to see you doing well in your career and making some bold moves.

I’m really interested to see where you are in a couple, three years. Maybe we’ll get you back on and do a little look back, and you can say, “Okay, here’s what we were able to do, and here’s what we learned in doing it.”

Tyler Tunic:
Yes, we’ll have a lot to report on for sure.

Russel Treat:
All right. Well, great. Thanks for coming back.

Tyler Tunic:
Yes. Thank you.

Russel Treat:
I hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of the Pipeliners Podcast and our conversation with Tyler.

Just a reminder, you should register to win our customized Pipeliners Podcast Yeti tumbler. All you need to do is visit PipelinePodcastNetwork.com/win and enter yourself in the drawing.

If you have ideas, questions, or topics you’d be interested in, or if you’d like to be a guest, please let me know either on the Contact Us page at PipelinePodcastNetwork.com or reach out to me on LinkedIn.

Thanks for listening. I’ll talk to you next week.