A recent article in the New York Times detailed the challenges facing Gary, Indiana, as that industrial city works to recover from decades of decline.
It was the sort of article that’s been written about Erie — often described as a dying rustbelt city — many times in the past.
But there was something different about this article. It suggested a template that Gary might follow, citing the example of another Great Lakes city that had fought through tough times.
The city being offered for comparison was Erie — held up as a community on the rise.
According to the article:
“Like Gary, Erie was heavily reliant on manufacturing — and suffered when those jobs were shipped overseas. But a combination of business and political leadership and the investment of one of the city’s largest employers, Erie Insurance Group, led to a significant turnaround.”
Erie has gotten plenty of attention in the national press in the past, but not often in this context.
A little over five years ago, James Grunke, CEO of the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership, arrived in Erie to headlines about a study that had identified Erie as having one of slowest-growing economies in the nation.