When the first issue of National Drillers Buyer's Guide was published in October 1980, Jimmy Carter was in the White House, the Oakland Raiders were Super Bowl champions, and no one had ever heard of the Internet.

Today, Bill Clinton is President, the St. Louis Rams are Super Bowl champions, the Internet is known worldwide and National Driller is the best-read publication in the drilling industry.

Two decades after its inaugural 16-page issue rolled off the press, National Driller is going strong as the primary information source for all aspects of the drilling industry.

The publication, now owned by Business News Publishing Co. II, LLC (BNP), of Troy, MI, has 35,000 subscribers and averages more than 100 pages of news and advertising per issue.

That's quite a change from the first issue of National Drillers Buyer's Guide, which W.C. "Doc" Faison of Bonifay, FL began publishing after spending 17 years operating a water well drilling business.

The magazine, which debuted at the National Water Well Show in Las Vegas in October 1980, was designed to fill a need for information for the well drilling industry. It was also intended as a means for buyers and sellers in the industry to be able to meet each other.

In the beginning, advertising sales were primarily handled by telephone. Many of the advertisements were sold to contacts made previously in the drilling industry and to new contacts made at various industry trade shows around the United States.

News and feature coverage of the water well, groundwater, monitoring, water treatment, mining, oil, and gas drilling industries was provided by writers from various sectors within those fields who were paid on a per-story basis. The publication still relies on expertise of a core of contributing writers for several monthly columns and special features.

As the drilling industry grew and new technologies and equipment were developed and put into use throughout the industry, the magazine's news coverage and advertising reflected these developments and corresponding growth.

Within a few years, it became necessary to double the size of the magazine's headquarters and the office staff was increased to eight employees to handle editing, advertising, production, circulation and other duties.

The biggest change in the publication's recent history occurred in September 1999, when National Drillers Buyer's Guide was purchased by Business News Publishing Co. II, LLC (BNP) and the magazine's name was shortened to National Driller in November 1999.

Business News Publishing Co. II, LLC is a leader in the trade publication industry, and National Driller is a part of BNP's Construction Division. Linda Moffat of Des Plaines, IL, serves as publisher.

Although National Driller's headquarters has been in Bonifay, FL, for the past 20 years, it will begin its third decade of operation in a new location, as the publication's offices will soon relocate to Marianna, FL. The relocation is not expected to affect the publication or our readers in any way.