Business After Hours

Our May Business After Hours networking event is scheduled for Thursday, May 17th. Our host will be the Idea Lab located in Blasco Library.

The Erie County Public Library is an essential community anchor with 5 locations and a Bookmobile. Libraries transform all are who enter and offer access to endless opportunities.  Join us at Blasco Library for this exciting networking event!

• Tour the Idea Lab and Community Classroom!
• Ignite your entrepreneurial spirit
• Be inspired to explore a partnership with your public library.
• Catering by Cali’s West
• Bring your business cards and exchange ideas!

**Please Note: Business After Hours is a membership benefit of the Erie Regional Chamber & Growth Partnership. If you would like information about membership, please contact Nancy Irwin at 814.454.7191 x143 or Steve Walters, 814.454.7191 x140.

Behind the Scenes

In partnership with Lilly Broadcasting, the ERCGP sponsors Giving You the Business segments which air weekly on WSEE35 and WICU12 during the 5:30PM. Monday broadcast and Tuesday mornings in the 6-7AM. hour.
The segment takes viewers behind the scenes of local businesses they may not have a chance to see.

Recently highlighted members:

• FastSigns
• Merit Industries
• Gannon Small Business Development Center
• Building Systems

Giving You the Business segments highlight members of the ERCGP, and is a free membership benefit! Contact our office if you would like viewers to see behind the scenes at your business! Email Nadeen Schmitz, or phone 814-454-7191 x139 to schedule your segment.

Congratulations to Brenda Bennett on the expansion of Transportation Solutions located at 4202 Peach Street!

In it's 21st year, the woman owned business is now a One Stop Shop for all of your PA Drivng Needs, adding full-service notary, title, and registration services for the general public.

Already offering driving lessons, PennDOT Driving Exams, and Occupational Therapy for individuals with learning or physical disabilities, the addition of notary, title, and registration services allows Transportation Solutions to serve as a single resource for any and all driving needs in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Congratulations again, way to grow!

View Event Photos

We are excited to announce new to eriepa.com, ERIE Business Brief - the blog. 

This new communication platform will allow the ERCGP to share information with you on a regular basis. Everything from events, pictures, articles of interest, membership updates, and more. Everything we typically would share in an emailed newsletter will be posted to the blog. We are setting it free!

ERIE Business Brief will also allow the ERCGP to invite guest bloggers to submit content for publication consideration. This is open to members of the ERCGP, and the content will be informational and educational, not "salesy". Interested? We are accepting submissions now. Download the guidelines HERE and send your blog post for review and approval to nschmitz@eriepa.com.   

ERCGP Members! Here are out top 10 ways YOU can maximize your membership in 2018. Need help connecting? Let us know!

1. Login to the Members Only section of the Chambers website and confirm your contact information
2. Attend our free monthly networking events, Business After Hours, and Connect 4 Coffee
3. Watch your inbox for Erie Business Brief Weekly Wrap-Up and event invitations. Not receiving these communications? White list eriepa.com through your email service!
4. Attend our Signature Events!
   • Annual Golf Outing
   • Beer on the Bay
   • Erie Homecoming
   • Fall Member Fest
   • Celebration of Excellence
5. Schedule a visit with our Business Action Team and explore the mulititude of growth services available to make your company more profitable in 2018
6. Want to get YOUR brand out there? Become a sponsor or advertise with us!
7. Take advantage of the many exclusive member discount programs
8. Sign up for the new Erie Perk Pass program! Give your business the recognition and increase foot traffic
9. Enroll in the Erie Ambassador Program
10. Connect your young professionals with the Young Erie Professionals!

Introducing Sorcerie

The Whole Foods Cooperative (Co-op), located at 1341 West 26th Street in the City of Erie has launched a new food truck in the Erie area. Sorcerie will focus on serving organic and regional cuisine with the same values and community minded goals as the Co-op.

The soft launch of the Sorcerie Food Truck is taking place in the parking lot of the Whole Foods Co-op on Thursday, May 3rd from 1-7pm. A Ribbon Cutting Ceremony marked the official opening with orders taken and ready to be filled!

Congratulations to all, way to grow!

View Event Photos

Schedule a visit with our Business Action Team

Sometimes the biggest challenge for small business is not identifying needs, but rather knowing where to go for that assistance and what to ask for. Working through the economic development system to get support without interrupting business operations can be difficult and overwhelming.

Through the Business Action Team operated by the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership, Erie County businesses have an advocate whose responsibility it is to know how to leverage resources to encourage growth. Working with the economic development affiliates, this free business assistance program can address hiring, training, marketing, financing and other expansion needs. Best of all, the program is completely free.

• Save Time
  Business Action Team professionals save business owners valuable time by providing them with relevant information based on their needs.
  
  
• Navigate the “System”
  The economic development system can be difficult to navigate. BAT professionals serve as a case manager for the business so that it gets the full benefit of the programs offered by the region’s service providers.
  
  
• Make Connections
  The connections made through the BAT program are an invaluable asset for future business endeavors.
  
  
• No Cost
  BAT is free. There is no cost to meet with a BAT professional. Membership in the Erie Regional Chamber is also not required.

Visit eriepa.com to learn more and schedule a visit from one of our business outreach professionals!

Ribbon Cutting Held Celebrating Grand Opening

Saturday May 5th marked the official opening of Creation Station at 3545 West 12th Street. A Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was held in celebration for owner Jessica Dorman and her team. 

The Creation Station is a unique arts and crafts studio where kids can create and have fun with projects and crafts for everyone! You can choose from their  selection which project best suit your child and what you think they would enjoy crafting the most. And Creation Station has seating for up to 30 crafters. 

Congratulations and much success!

Whether checking the news, playing a game, looking at the weather, or interacting with some form of mobile app or website, it’s obvious that people have a constant need to check their phones. In fact, the average American checks their phone 47 times per day. They’re also on mobile devices 2x more than desktop computers. With all walks of life represented among mobile users, it’s a logical channel for advertisers to reach large-scale audiences.

Despite the ubiquity of mobile apps and websites, it’s difficult for marketers to access this ad inventory and start running their own ad campaigns. The mobile advertising ecosystem is dominated by ad technology companies that tailor their products towards large budget agencies, fortune 500 companies, and experienced ad operations teams. The alternatives are walled garden, black box solutions like Google and Facebook.

Bob Reisenweber and Colin Jacobsen saw the need for mobile advertising to become more open to the common marketer. They founded 4045 Media, an ad technology platform that aims to level the mobile advertising playing field for small to medium-sized businesses and emerging markets. 4045 allows marketers of any skill level to start using data-driven decisions to find the right audience across a supply of 50,000+ apps and websites. With the platform, ads can be targeted by age, gender, geo (within 100 feet of a GPS coordinate), and other relevant interests. Ads are optimized by clicks and down the funnel conversions.

Bob, an Erie native, met Colin while studying at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Bob went on to work in investment banking followed by venture capital in Latin America. Colin has spent his career in digital media, where he was most recently a senior member of Twitter's Business Development team. Both are focused on bringing technology to Erie, while expanding to similar size markets in the surrounding 250 mile radius.

4045 brings a no-frills mobile advertising platform that leverages clean, user-permitted data. Through GDPR-compliant partnerships, 4045 layers first and third party data to target valuable users with relevant ads. The 4045 team provides client services for designing, launching, delivering, and optimizing each ad campaign.

4045 Media looks forward to growing within the Erie community

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Celebrating New Business

Congratulations to Anita Abers on the grand opening of her family's new business Abers Angels Children's Boutique. Located on West Ridge Road in Fairview, the shop offers gently used children's clothing and much more!

'Abers Angels Children’s Boutique is not just another consignment store. We are warriors in our fight against child abuse. This Veteran owned store is run by our family including 6 adopted children. We offer top quality gently used children’s clothing, toys, games, nursery furniture, maternity clothing, and much more.

We also offer Abers Angels wear with proceeds being donated to the fight against child abuse.'

Be sure to drop by and welcome Anita, husband Steve, and the entire family to the business community. Congratulations!!

Event Photos

We have been informed by our friends at Penelec that there is an active scam going on in the area. Penelec customers are being told they need to pay a certain amount of money or their electric service will be shut off. Business customers are being targeted through this scam.

The calls are NOT coming from Penelec/First Energy representatives. We’ve been asked to share with you this information as well as the following webpage through First Energy talking about Scams and Fraud: https://www.firstenergycorp.com/content/customer/help/safety/scam-info/known-scams.html#phone.

Please share with fellow business owners in the area!

Networking in the Morning!

The Erie Regional Chamber had another fantastic Connect 4 Coffee in May!

Each month, it’s great to spend an early morning learning about businesses in our area. Attendees give a two-minute informal presentation about their business or program – and they can bring business cards, marketing materials, etc. to share with the group. The host provides coffee and breakfast items for the group. Time is left at the end for networking.

A little bit about our host

Extra special thanks to our host, Paul Lorei and Marilee Warner of Lorei Portraits, for their hospitality. Each attendee received a $200 voucher for a studio setting. The photography studio provides artistic and natural portraits of families, children and individuals in the studio, on location and at the beach. They also specialize in one-hour business portraits – including retouching – and delivered digitally.

Here’s just a sample of what we learned this month:

• Presbyterian SeniorCare Network is hosting a free Car Show on May 20 at its Manchester Commons facility.
• During a 45-minute salt room session at AKI, you actually breathe in salt air from a special machine that grinds up salt and releases it into the air.
• Mosquito Hunters of Erie, a brand new business in our area, offers pet-, environment- and people-friendly products to help you take back your yard this summer.

Be a part of our next Connect 4 Coffee at Donatos Pizza, June 12 from 7:30- 9 a.m. Register today or contact Steve Walters for more information.

Event Photos

Photo courtesy of Lorei Portraits

The firm of Jorgenson Consulting has been chosen to formally begin the search for the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership's Chief Executive Officer. The position has been vacant since October of 2017.

Detailed information and how to express interest in the position can be found in the Opportunity Profile supplied by Jorgenson Consulting.

Registration is now open for our next evening networking event being hosted by The Sight Center of NWPA on June 21st! Business After Hours run from 5-7pm and are members only events. Here are the details for June's gathering:

You're invited to help celebrate the Sight Center's 80th anniversary and the official start of Summer! Come learn more about how the Center's prevention, rehabilitation and support services have changed thousands of lives since their start in 1938!

• Have a hot time in the cool shade of the Sight Center's beautiful backyard 
• "Try on" a variety of common eye disorders
• Find out your risk for Type 2 diabetes - which leads to issues that can cause blindness 
• Check out the Center's display of low vision technology that "talks" 
• Play a quick game of corn hole - blindfolded!
• Food and beverages including beer and wine by Mercyhurst University
• Bring your business cards for maximum networking opportunities

We hope to see you for an "eye-opening" good time!

Register Now

The Erie Regional Chamber's first Signature Event of the year took place this week. We were blessed with GREAT weather this Wednesday and Thursday for our annual Golf Outing at Peek'n Peak Resort! We had 52 foursome's participate in the 2 days of play. To say a good time was had by all would be an understatement! Thanks to all of our sponsors, the players, and to the amazing staff at Peek'n Peak Resort who make this event run so smoothly for us!

Special thanks to our 2018 Signature Event Sponsors, Erie Federal Credit Union, GE Transportation, National Fuel, and National Fuel Resources!

View Event Photos Here

On Friday, May 25th, Engine House 39, the first volunteer fire department-owned social club in Erie County, held a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony. Members are treated to a robust menu with great variety and atmosphere that honors the work and service of volunteers in firefighting, rescue, and emergency medical services.

Since opening in April, Engine House 39 has worked to create a family-friendly dining experience, as well as a traditional club experience for membership. As a service to the local community, the Engine House welcomes the public for lunch daily from 11 a.m. through 1:30 p.m. The ribbon cutting marked the official opening of the social club and serves as a thank you to those who helped to make it all happen.

Located on Washington Drive in Edinboro, Daryl Parker, Edinboro VFD President, is eager to let the community know that the club exists to provide a sustainable source of funding for delivery of emergency service to residents and visitors to our region – combined with all the benefits of a social club.

Each and every event we hold is a great success largely in part to the generous support of our members and sponsors. Last weeks Golf Outing was no exception. We are extremely greatful to the following for their sponsorships for this years outing:

And great big THANKS to our friends at Peek'n Peak Resort for all you did to help our event go off without a hitch! 

Tuesday evening, seventeen professional men and women joined the ranks as Erie Ambassador Graduates! The ceremony and celebration, held at the Erie Yacht Club, was also attended by the graduates families, friends, co-workers, and employers.

The nine session course took them behind the scenes at places like Erie Water Works, Splash Lagoon Indoor Water Park Resort, Arvite Technologies, and the Erie Innovation District just to name a few.

The evening's celebration also included an inspirational message to the graduates from Brian Slawin of Ben Franklin Technology Partners. Brian spoke of the "power of the pin" and encouraged the graduates to get involved even more in their community.

Congratulations graduates! We are proud to call you Erie Ambassadors!

*Additional Event Photos* 

Enrollment is now open for our Fall 2018 session of the Erie Ambassadors. Visit our website for details HERE. 

And thank you for your investment as members of the ERCGP! We look forward to working with you!

• Abers Angels Children's Boutique
• Allegheny Wood Works, Inc.
• Auntie Anne's Cinnabon Millcreek Mall
• Core 3 Group
• Handmade Communication, LLC
• Interstate Nissan
• Technologically Advanced Network for Non-Profits
• UPMC Centers for Rehab Services

Our investors represent 800+ companies and more than 70,000 employees in the Erie region. If you know of a business that could benefit by becoming a member of the Erie Regional Chamber, refer them to Nancy Irwin, Development Director, or Steve Walters, Sales Manager. 

Membership Information