Erie, PA – Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper was joined by business leaders today to preview the work developed as part of the Up For the Job initiative for members of the media and Erie County Council.

The idea to market the availability of a highly qualified workforce was presented by leadership at U.E. Local 506 in late 2016 and funded by Erie County Council in October 2017. Since then, the initiative has evolved into Choose Erie, which begins to address the full economic development needs of Erie County. Choose Erie will serve as a portal for businesses considering locating or expanding in Erie County.

“Choose Erie was developed as a result of teamwork, creativity, and in true Erie fashion—hard work,” said Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper.  “It’s so energizing when an idea becomes an asset. Choose Erie will bring Erie County in line with business attraction efforts across the country, serving as the single point of contact for those considering locating or expanding in Erie County. ChooseErie.com will be our front door to the world.”

The goal of Choose Erie is to attract new businesses and spark additional investment in Erie County by promoting the availability of a highly trained workforce that is ready to get to work, while professionally marketing the many valuable educational, economic, geographic, and quality of life assets that will inspire companies from across the country and around the globe to locate in Erie County.

“This initiative is not just about a new logo and marketing tools—this work gets us on the playing field with site selectors from across the country and within our own corporate community,”

Dahlkemper said. “We are still pursuing funding to support the research phase of the project, and we have developed a working group to ensure we are working in tandem to market all that Erie County has to offer.”

Dahlkemper put together a coalition of leaders to develop the strategy to ensure that Erie County’s economic development ecosystem is operating at the highest capacity. Those involved are Bill DeLuca, chairman of the Erie County Redevelopment Authority; Tom Tupitza, chairman of the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership; Carl Nicolia, chairman of the Innovation Collaborative; Tim NeCastro, chairman of the Erie Downtown Development Corp.; Laith Wardi, economic development representative on the Emerge 2040 Steering Committee; and Erie

Mayor Joe Schember.

The group has collaborated in the pursuit of an Erie Community Foundation Shaping Tomorrow grant, and has been invited to make an application.