Inflated prices for balloon biz

Those floating party balloons, a staple of any respectable New Year's Eve party, are becoming scarce.

A worldwide helium shortage is the culprit, leading to dramatic price increases for balloon companies and other industries that use the natural gas.

"Prices have tripled," said Marsha Bechtold, owner of Amazing Balloon Creations in Rolling Meadows. "I used to be able to get my supply from one source, and now it's three or four suppliers I have to go to."

As a result, many parties that use balloons as decorations won't be using the floating variety this time around.

Growing international demand combined with fewer refining operations have created a shortage that federal officials said could get worse before it gets better.

"There's about 10 years left of our reserve supply at the current rates of withdrawal," said Hans Stuart, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the federal government's national helium reservoir in Amarillo, Texas. "The people that are going to feel it first are party balloon suppliers, but it's affecting research, too."

Event decorators began feeling the pinch over the summer. With the holiday party season now upon them, they have to be creative with their designs and careful with their resources.

"I canceled two jobs with auto dealerships because it's just a waste to use helium on balloons that are going to stay up for just a few hours," said Lisa Talip, owner of A Balloon Creation in Aurora. "I think everybody's mindful."

Helium is a non-flammable, naturally occurring gas, and there is about 21 billion cubic feet of it in the Texas reservoir.

Beside balloons, the gas is needed for such things as fiber optics production; it's also used to cool magnets in MRI machines.

The federal government has been selling off some of its reserves to the private sector, but what those companies do with it is up to them, Stuart said. So far, there have been few complaints of irresponsible distribution. And the balloon industry is even moving away from helium-filled decorations.

"We're looking for jobs that don't use helium or can do without it," said Jane Prochnow, owner of All Occasions in Wheaton. "I'm not saying we're on a quest to not use helium at all, but we're trying to find ways to get our product out there without using it."

Long-term repair contracts on MRI machines have forced Barrington Medical Imaging in Cary to eat the rising cost of the gas, said Mike Mercer, vice president of service operations.

"Some of my contracts cost me $25,000 to $30,000 a year to keep cool, and we've seen a 20 percent hike in our costs," he said. "We planned for this with any new contracts, but with our current customers there's nothing we can do."

But finding the gas has not been a problem, so far.

"Just about a year ago we heard there was a shortage coming," he said. "But the industry has done a nice job of managing the supply to the industry that needs it."

One place that uses a lot of helium for research purposes is Fermilab in Batavia. Officials are prepared for any shortage.

"The fact is we have long-term contracts with helium suppliers and when there are shortages, because we have these contracts, we're able to roll with it," spokeswoman Judy Jackson said. "We're in jeopardy of reducing research because of Congress, but helium is not the problem."

Global demand created by burgeoning technology industries abroad caused a greater need for helium, but that was supposed to be offset by new refineries opening in Qatar and Algeria. However, those plants experienced construction delays and equipment problems and have yet to come online.

That means the shortage should continue for at least three more years, Stuart said.