Outside Erie

I don’t know which is worse news, that GE Transportation CEO John Dineen has (predictably) been shipped off to his next position, or that his successor is actually younger than I am.
General Electric Co. announced that Dineen is leaving its Erie-based transportation unit to become the president and CEO of GE Healthcare in London.
He will […]

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, […]

Why would a locomotive manufacturing company that has a presence in Erie choose not to build its first manufacturing facility in Erie?
Did the locals drop the ball? Did the company, Railpower Technologies, get a sweeter deal elsewhere?
I spoke with some folks in Erie’s business community on Monday about Railpower’s decision to build a locomotive manufacturing […]

Erie’s top 10 employers (according to the state’s Center for Workforce Information and Analysis):

GE Transportation
Hamot Medical Center
Erie Indemnity Company
Saint Vincent Health Center
Wal-Mart
Erie City School District
Erie County
Millcreek School District
Dr. Gertrude A. Barber Center
Plastek Management Group

A few things stand out here:

There are only two manufacturing companies
After the top four employers, the list is largely government and social-service […]

The candidates, advance teams, Secret Service, and famous spouses are all gone.
The Fortune 500 CEOs, the money managers, and the Wall Street analysts have all headed home.
The TV personalities, print reporters, and financial journalists have all moved on to other stories.
For a short time, Erie was a prime location on the news map.
It was a […]

I got a note today from Laura Schaaf at Mayor Joe Sinnott’s office showing off a huge banner that was on display outside Erie International Airport greeting visitors to the GE Shareholders’ meeting.
It seems GlobalErie reader Richard Dressner, who coined the phrase as part of our “Six Word Motto” campaign, should start putting in his […]

General Electric Co. CEO Jeffrey Immelt had some great things to say about Erie during his address at today’s shareholders’ meeting:
Erie is a GE success story. We have invested in this business … we are winning in the marketplace … we are increasing employment … we are giving back to the community. Yesterday, we visited […]

I’m looking for a person or two who would be interested in providing a guest blog about the GE shareholders meeting. I’m particularly curious to find out how Erie and GE Transportation are portrayed — and learn a bit more about the atmosphere in the hall in the week of GE’s recent earnings report.
If you […]

Here’s a good sign for Erie’s economy — The Washington Post reports the domestic railroad industry is in the early stages of a building boom.
If that trend holds true, it could mean that the boom times at Erie’s largest employer, GE Transportation, will continue.
“This year alone, the railroads will spend nearly $10 billion to add […]

This week’s top comment comes from Joel Natalie, author of the blog Radio Free JoJo and a regular GlobalErie reader.
Joel, in writing about the arrival of some big-name CEOs in Erie for the GE shareholders meeting, brought up the idea that some of those CEOs manufacture products that include component parts from Erie.
He also spoke […]