Building on its assets
Erie does have assets to build on, including skilled workers,a handful of colleges and robust immigration stemming from the settlementof refugees in the area.
“There is a lot of work being done on moving toward a different type of economy,” said Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper.
Erie Insurance is now the area’s largest employer. It’s in the midst of a major expansion and talking about another 600 or so workers, Ms. Dahlkemper said. And there are other jobs in manufacturing and employment in the plastics field.
The community also has become home to many immigrants and refugees from nations such as Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Bhutan, Iraq and Afghanistan, according to state refugeeresettlement data.
“It’s too early to get more concrete data or government data from the standard sources, but on an anecdotal level, in my opinion they are having a positive impact. There are grocery stores and economic activity happening,” Mr. Louie said.
That’s evident at stores such as Anwar Fresh Meat Market on Parade Street, as shop owner Laith Al Rubeay helps customers under signs advertising kebabs and shawarma for sale. The Iraqi refugee came to Erie after living in San Diego.
“Erie is very nice,” he said, adding that it is an affordable area.
Economists like Mr. Louie say Erie’s best hope lies in developing a more knowledgebased economy. GE will play a role: The company has pledged to retain roughly 2,000 employees in Erie, focused on producing componentsand doing design work.
“We need greater strength in research,” said Barbara Chaffee, who heads the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership. “I use Pittsburgh as an example” of the postindustrial rebirth Erie needs. “We just can’t wait as long.”
But those seem like distant answers from where Marion Armstrong sits in the Lawrence Park Dinor, which is how the locals spell it.
A third-generation native of the Lawrence Park community that houses the GE works, she said the social fabric was fraying. As employment has dwindled, she said, “landlords started moving in, and the rowtype houses look like slums.”
“I don’t know if anyone knowshow to fix it,” she said.