Outside Erie

Erie native Gretchen Gierach is the author of a new study about aspirin reducing the risk of breast cancer.
Her husband, fellow Erie native Andy Benson, sent me a note last night spotlighting the accomplishment — and wondering why such discoveries aren’t happening in his hometown.
Here’s some of what he had to say.

My wife Gretchen and […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Well, well, well. You all have made my job difficult this week.
Not only has this been a record-setting week in terms of the volume of comments on this blog. It was also a record-setter in terms of quality. So many members of this community took time to create detailed, thoughtful, and provocative posts that it […]

What has accounted for the most manufacturing job losses in Pennsylvania over the past 15 years?
Hint: The answer isn’t NAFTA.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing in Washington recently sent me some stats comparing the impact of NAFTA with the impact of illegal Chinese trade practices.
Here’s the bottom line:

Pennsylvania has lost more than 207,400 manufacturing jobs since […]

The Manufacturers’ Association of Northwest Pennsylvania issued an opinion piece today that I’d like to share.
It speaks directly to many of the topics we discuss in this space regularly.
And because of the size and influence of the association, I think it’s worth reproducing here.
Here it is:
There is no question that the tourism and service industries […]

In case you haven’t yet seen it, I’d like to point out Sunday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story on Erie in advance of the April 22 primary.
Writer Mackenzie Carpenter does a great job of providing context and painting a three-dimensional picture of the community. After some of the drive-by attempts at profiling the community by other media […]

The proposed tires-to-energy plant on the former International Paper Co. site has emerged as one of the most controversial projects in recent memory.
The thought that this proposed plant would be sited in a dense neighborhood is certainly cause for worry.
And it prompted a new GlobalErie reader, Patricia Merski of Lakeside Drive, to write me a […]