Outside Erie

What are leaders in other parts of the country doing to address the issues that face American cities?
That question is one that we care about a lot here at GlobalErie — since we believe that Erie needs to look at best practices from around the country as it attempts to reverse its economic and social […]

This is hardly shocking news, but it’s worth pointing to a report released today by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, which has found that the Chinese government is distorting the world steel market by providing energy subsidies for its producers.
Total energy subsidies to Chinese steel from 2000 to mid-year 2007 reached $27.11 billion for thermal […]

It wasn’t long ago that economists were predicting doom if oil prices crossed the $50-per-barrel barrier.
Today, they’ve been hovering around $100 per barrel — and there’s speculation that that price could double to $200 per barrel by year’s end.
That number is a long shot — and there’s also speculation that prices could fall significantly in […]

Erie has certainly lost its share of major employers during the past couple of decades.
Manufacturing heavyweights such as International Paper, Steris, EMI, American Meter and the like have all left town or significantly scaled back their local operations.
Others such as Lord Corp. maintain a presence in Erie, but have moved their headquarters elsewhere.
But there are […]

Check out this gallery of photos of the first shipment of biofuel from the new Lake Erie Biofuels plant at the Port of Erie.

Jim Berlin, who delivered these fantastic photos, is pushing hard to use the port much more regularly for container shipping — and he sees this week’s shipment as an excellent example of […]

The recent thread on Erie’s Person of the Year has inspired an interesting side debate on whether developer Rick Griffith is taking the proper approach to restoring some of Erie’s old factory buildings.
Here’s my take:
While one could argue that they might have handled some of his restoration projects differently, Griffith deserves credit for doing what […]

Logistics Plus chief executive Jim Berlin offers an interesting take on how to improve commerce in Erie and along the Great Lakes on Berlin’s Wall.
While Berlin says Erie doesn’t hold some of the industrial advantages that it did a half century ago, it does have one major advantage that just might help attract industry.
And that […]

One of the more interesting debates in Erie in the coming months is the plan by Erie Renewable Energy to build a tires-to-energy plant on a portion of the former International Paper Co. site.
Neighbors of the proposed plant — which would operate in a densely populated part of Erie’s east side — are worried about […]

When a longtime manufacturing company outgrows its longtime headquarters, the story doesn’t always have to end badly for the company’s hometown.
That point was hammered home today with news that Goodyear has reached a deal to keep its world headquarters in Akron.
The deal will keep about 3,000 workers in northeastern Ohio and will include a […]

GlobalErie reader and Just Thinking Out Loud writer Matthew Stewart agreed to head down to Pittsburgh yesterday to sit in on a town hall-style meeting on the state of U.S. manufacturing.
The host of the meeting was John Ratzenberger — the actor and host of the cable show “Made in America”.
Here’s what Stewart had to say […]