Outside Erie

The fact that Erie Indemnity Co. went outside of the family in hiring its new chief executive officer is a big deal.
When I covered the company, it was very clear from every corner that it was a “promote from within” culture.
The arrival of Terrence W. Cavanaugh and the departures of longtime execs such […]

What a great week of debate.
We’ve had a lot of fantastic comments — and some wonderful exchanges and ideas.
It’s very difficult to single out one comment, but I thought I’d pull out a portion of a comment from Danny Lucas about corporate boards in lieu of the sale of Anheuser-Busch. As usual, Danny expresses some […]

There’s a lot of poetic waxing going on these days about the sale of Anheuser-Busch to the Belgian company InBev.
One of the classic American brands is now in the hands of a foreign company.
They are not all gone, of course. You can still drink a Coke, hop on your Harley, or flick your Zippo lighter.
For […]

The news is everywhere, it seems, that General Electric Co.’s stock price is plummeting.
Shares are trading at about $29 this morning. This marks the stock’s lowest level in five years and the price is down more than 21 percent since Jan. 1.
This doesn’t mean that the Erie operation is struggling. As most of us know, […]

Dennis Weed at ErieBlogs pointed out over the weekend that the Erie Water Works has a newly redesigned Web site, which includes a previously undiscussed nugget of info that had escaped my notice.
Erie Water Works has an economic development policy aimed at helping make Erie more attractive to businesses that use a lot of water.
Particularly […]

About 1,000 people are coming to Erie this weekend for the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association conference.
According to figures from VisitErie, those visitors to the gathering at the new Bayfront Convention Center, will bring about $600,000 in business to the area between now and Sunday.
Another big event is coming to town beginning next Thursday, as well. […]

Is Erie doing enough to market its accessibility to fresh water to businesses?
Economic development officials are attempting to answer that question — working on an initiative to research whether there are industrial sectors that need fresh water accessibility for their success. If so, they hope to begin marketing Erie as a city where they can […]

Parts of Erie will be showcased in the upcoming movie “The Road”, starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.
Usually, an on-location movie can serve as a commercial, of sorts, for a community. A city gets 90 minutes-plus of Hollywood-style exposure on a big screen — minus many of its warts.
But in the case of “The Road”, […]

You might have missed this story, but it could ultimately have a big impact on the way nonprofits run in Erie.
The United Way of America is going to be shifting its strategy over the next decade to put a much greater emphasis on programs that improve the health, education and finances of working families. Since […]

With gas prices approaching $4 per gallon, I’m wondering whether it will have an impact on your summer travel plans. Memorial Day weekend is almost here, after all.
If you live in Erie, are you more likely to stick around town and partake in the local attractions?
If you are outside Erie, is the cost of fuel […]