Outside Erie

I spend a lot of time talking about how it makes smart economic sense for Erie to embrace environmentally friendly manufacturing as a centerpiece of its business strategy.
I usually hold up companies like GE Transportation and Spinworks LLC as prime examples of why this makes sense.
Today, I’d like to hold up another new example — […]

You’d be hard pressed to find a business in Erie with as much history as Isaac Baker Menswear — the Gannon Small Business Development Center’s retail business of the year.
It’s hard to imagine a retail business with a richer pedigree than Erie’s Isaac Baker Menswear.
After all, the business wasn’t merely founded before the invention of […]

You might not be familiar with Inscale PC.
But this Warren-based company is doing some really interesting work — and it is the type of creative service company that I’d like to see more of in the Erie region.
Inscale, the latest in our series of Sunday business profiles, was honored earlier this year by the Gannon […]

This week’s Sunday business profile focuses on Al’s Melons Farm Market & Greenhouse in Linesville — the Gannon University Small Business Development Center’s Agribusiness of the Year.
When John O’Grady took over Al’s Melons Farm Market from his stepfather eight years ago, he took on an already established operation that sold produce, fruit, and nursery […]

This week’s Sunday business profile focuses on Bella Salon & Day Spa in North East — the Gannon University Small Business Development Center’s Community/Residential Services Business of the Year.
You don’t have to go to New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles to get pampered at one of the nation’s fastest-growing salons.
You simply need to make your […]

Hertel and Brown Physical and Aquatic Therapy is one of Erie’s most successful recent business startups.
It is so successful, in fact, that the business was named the Gannon University Small Business Development Center’s Startup Business of the Year.
It is the third in our weekly series of profiles of business award winners.

Aaron Hertel and Michael Brown […]

The Velocity Network is the Gannon University Small Business Development Center’s technology business of the year in 2008.
It is the second in our series of weekly profiles of the SBDC’s award winners.
Remember the not-so-long ago days when recent college grads were becoming overnight millionaires in the technology sector?
This isn’t one of those stories.
Instead, this is […]

I was invited earlier this year by the Small Business Development Center at Gannon to contribute short profiles of the companies it honored at its annual awards luncheon.
Each of the honored companies offers an interesting story — and the provide examples of how smart entrepreneurs can thrive in Erie.
Over the next nine Sundays, I plan […]