ERIE Conference Calls for Collaboration to Remedy Economic Inequities
Annual gathering at Penn State Behrend brings Erie's leaders together
The message at the 21st annual Economic Research Institute of Erie (ERIE) conference this year was clear: while Erie County remains "relatively stable" for another year, it is falling behind state and national growth, with the City of Erie taking the brunt of the blow. Ken Louie, Director of ERIE at Penn State Behrend's Black School of Business, said that the impact of inflation and income disparities continues to ail the county, but the remedy of collaboration may be easier said than done. Louie brought together various officials and organizational leaders from the city and county to present at the conference on Wednesday, including City of Erie Mayor Daria Devlin, County Executive Christina Vogel, Infinite Erie's Executive Director Kim Thomas, Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership President Brandon Mendoza, Manufacturer and Business Association (MBA) President Lori Joint, and others.
First, attendees heard from Louie about the data behind ERIE's conclusions. From 2001 to 2024, Erie's real gross domestic product or GDP – the total value of final goods and services produced by the economy – has increased by 5.3 percent while the nationwide GDP has increased by 67.6 percent and Pennsylvania's GDP has increased by 41.7 percent. From 2007 to 2025, average weekly wages increased by about 120 percent, but when adjusted for inflation, it is about 19 percent, giving people only about $137 more buying power weekly in 2025 compared to 2007. At the same time, median household incomes were drastically different with the countywide median income at $63,354 – already much lower than the statewide $77,971 and nationwide $80,734 averages – while the City of Erie's median income is $46,113, with Census Tract 1 coming in at $16,838.
However, the unemployment rate, 4.3 percent, is at a historic low, similar to the national 4.2 percent rate, showing that the problem is not about jobs existing, it's about jobs paying enough and reaching the right neighborhoods.
"The people of my city are not doing as well," Devlin said in reaction to Louie's data.
The day before the conference, Devlin and Vogel toured Behrend, and Devlin said she asked questions like how many minority students are enrolled, especially from the city. She noted that being at a career fair as an option for high schoolers is not enough anymore – the workforce pipeline needs an infusion of support, and she said it falls on businesses to intentionally reach out and eliminate barriers to education and employment. "I have to make sure that the dollars come down to the neighborhoods and people who need it the most," Devlin remarked.
Even though the city's budget doesn't have extra money for new initiatives, she agreed with Louie that collaboration and leveraging existing infrastructure would be beneficial. Joking, Devlin and Vogel noted that they might spend more time with each other than with their families at this point, showing their commitment to working together after a history of misalignment. "Confusion, chaos, and dysfunction are very expensive, and alignment amplifies impact," Vogel said.
Upon taking office, the local business owner found the county to be in a difficult financial situation and has since made intentional decisions to bring more money into the county without placing the burden on taxpayers.
Recently, the Erie County Council approved the refinancing of bonds for the Erie County Convention Center Authority, providing the county $368,000 more in the first year of refinancing, followed by $627,000 in years two through nine. When North East grape farmers were left in limbo earlier this year by sudden contract cancellations, Feeding America and Second Harvest Food Bank along with state legislators were able to secure $500,000 to purchase and process Erie-area grapes to provide fresh juice to local food banks through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System. Vogel emphasized that it's important to collaborate locally in order to compete nationally, and although alignment does not mean agreeing on everything, she said that it means having the same goals and moving forward together.
One example of working together to compete nationally that was presented at the conference was the Choose Erie (Build Ships Faster) project – an Erie Maritime Initiative built around leveraging what the region already has, rather than building something new. The initiative points to Erie's natural harbor, industrial land, and shipbuilding history that dates back to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet built during the War of 1812. The initiative's list of backers doubles as a snapshot of collaboration on display at the ERIE Conference. Vogel and Devlin signed on alongside Thomas's Infinite Erie, Joint's MBA, and the Erie Regional Chamber, as well as Penn State Behrend, both of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senators, Gov. Josh Shapiro, and several state and local legislators.
MBA's Joint said this is an initiative that her organization has been tracking and supporting from the very beginning. An example of collaboration itself, MBA began in1905 when 61 manufacturers first decided they'd be more effective working together than separately. That premise has carried the organization for more than 120 years – "come together, don't reinvent the wheel," as Joint put it – and MBA has kept applying it well beyond Erie's borders. The organization co-hosts the Western Pennsylvania Legislative Reception alongside the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and the Pittsburgh Business Exchange, a regional gathering that connects state lawmakers, industry leaders, and business owners around issues affecting the broader western Pennsylvania economy.
When it comes to collaboration, Joint cautioned that collaboration isn't automatic or risk-free. It can just as easily become a way for organizations to blur responsibility as to share it, she said, unless partners deliberately delegate tasks and hold each other accountable. "Trust is really at the foundation of collaboration," Joint said – and trust, she added, takes courage: sharing credit, sharing resources, and putting the region's success ahead of any one organization's own.
Despite that warning, Joint said that she sees more momentum in Erie, the city that she calls home, than she has in years, and she cited that momentum as a reason to push harder, not pull back.
Chloe Forbes is a local journalist. Reach her at chloeforbes14@gmail.com
