Erie Edge Magazine Oct/Nov 2017

YOUR MEMBERSHIP EDGE

Energy Savings Programs

ON THE LEADING EDGE

Updates from inside the Chamber

A City Rich in

CULTURE How Erie County offers an art for every season

U NC O M M O N K N OW L E D G E

Interesting facts about Erie and beyond

OCT/NOV 2017

is a publication of

ERCGP Mission & Leadership –

YEP Mission & Leadership –

Our mission is to collaborate and mobilize leadership, expertise and resources to sustain business, create jobs, grow investment, enrich lives and improve the prosperity of the region.

Young Erie Professionals is an organization dedicated to providing its members the opportunity to network professionally with their peers while actively participating in their community and region, with the goal of attracting, retaining and supporting young talent in the local workforce.

ERCGP Board of Directors and Officers Marsha Marsh – Chair Tom Tupitza, Esq. – Vice Chair David M. Tullio – Secretary Ken Nelson – Treasurer Kevin Arrington Dr. Christopher Clark Michael Colpoys Michael Edwards Mark Fatica Jeff Favre Dr. Ralph Ford David P. Gibbons Charles “Boo” Hagerty Tim Hunter Bruce Kern Charles G. Knight Lisa Koshan James E. Martin Bob Mazza Jack Munch Tim NeCastro

Rick Novotny Brian Polito Brenda Sandberg Greg Sbrocco Nick Scott, Jr. Jim Stevenson Keith Szewczyk Dr. Keith Taylor, Ph.D. Michael Victor, J.D. L.L.D. Fred Walker Laith Wardi Jenny Weigold-Geertson Scott Wyman Partner Appointees William Lillis John Oliver James Rutkowski

ERCGP Staff Barbara Chaffee – President/CEO Jacob Rouch – Vice President, Economic Development Division Benjamin Pratt – Vice President, Growth Partnership Division Nadeen Schmitz – Executive Director, Marketing & Communications Linda Robbins – CFO/Director of Operations Brett Wiler – Director of Research, Grants, and Business Outreach Nancy Irwin – Development Director Steve Walters – Sales Manager Susan Ronto – Membership Coordinator Cathy Noble – Event Coordinator

YEP Board of Directors Bill Lillis – Chair R. Jason Wieczorek – Vice Chair Carrie Ennis Rick Gagnon Erin Sekerak Kristi Bailey Matt Wiertel

Committee Chairs Lindsey Scutella – Marketing Chair Mario Median – Membership Samantha Brickell – Event Coordinator

Editor

Design

Nadeen Schmitz

Engel O’Neill Advertising

Advertising Information Nancy Irwin (814) 454-7191 x143 nirwin@eriepa.com

Steve Walters (814) 454-7191 x140 swalters@eriepa.com

Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership | 208 East Bayfront Parkway Suite 100 Erie, PA 16507 | www.eriepa.com

TABLE of CONTENTS

02 Cover Story

Where Art is Always in Season

08

On The Leading Edge

Updates from the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership

10

Uncommon Knowledge Interesting Facts About Erie

12 Photo Gallerie

Photos from Connect 4 Coffee, Fall Member Fest, Erie Homecoming & Business Showcase, and more.

14

News From Erie

Events, Recognitions, Investors and Eerie Erie

16

Your Membership Edge Energy Savings Programs

18 “What Lies Ahead”

(Cont.) From Barbara Chaffee

The Warner Theatre

© Art Becker Photo

21

Member Directerie

ERCGP Member Directory

1

Where art is

ALWAYS IN SEASON Written by Dana Pontillo

It’s with good reason Erieites often describe Erie’s four distinct seasons to explain their love for their town. We enjoy a wealth of recreation for every season: walleye fishing, SeaWolves baseball, golf, boating, high school and college football, Otters hockey and BayHawks basketball, and downhill or cross-country skiing.

While spring, summer, fall and winter activities are no doubt plentiful, if you look a little closer, Erie also offers an art for every season.

“When the sun is shining, we enjoy an abundance of music performances at oneof-a-kind waterfront venues and public

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parks, explore public art displays, embrace our maritime history and tour the county through a robust schedule of cultural fairs and festivals,” explained Amanda Brown Sissem, executive director of Erie Arts and Culture, an organization that supports Erie’s cultural and arts sector. “As the weather turns, we move inside to theaters, museums, galleries, studios, restaurants and watering holes that feature live entertainment.”

Fortunately for Erieites and visitors, our thriving arts community comes with affordable prices and a central location.

“Assets like the Warner Theatre, the Erie Philharmonic and the Erie Playhouse help attract residents and visitors to downtown Erie,” Sissem said. They engage students in arts education programming, are testaments to the value of the arts to our community and help identify Erie as destination for fine arts.”

Performing Arts Perhaps the best-looking 87-year-old in Erie, the Warner Theatre is an Erie treasure and the center of the city’s performing arts. The grandeur of the luxury movie palaces of the 1930s is preserved within its crushed velour, silver and gold leaf, and ornate grand lobby.

What began as a movie theater now hosts more than 150 events each year, including performances by the Erie Broadway Series and Lake Erie Ballet along with national touring concerts.

Saved from demolition in the 1970s, the Warner now is on the National Register of Historic Places. Planned restoration and renovation projects totaling $14.5 million have been delayed as a result of the state’s unresolved budget. The improvements on hold include adding 13,750 feet of new space, increasing the stage’s depth by 20 feet and improving its sound system.

The Warner Theatre also is home to the Erie Philharmonic, the nation’s third-oldest symphony. With professional musicians and soloists from inside and outside the region, the philharmonic family also includes the Erie Philharmonic Chorus, its Pops Series, free outdoor summer concerts and the Erie Jr. Philharmonic, the third-oldest youth orchestra in the nation. Since 1953, young musicians in grades five through 12 from Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York have been performing with the Jr. Phil. Many have gone on to perform with the New York Philharmonic and Columbus Symphony.

Now entering its 40th season, the Erie Chamber Orchestra has been offering noticket-required performances to expose the community to classical music regardless of age, income, education or cultural background. In residency at Gannon University, the orchestra performs masterworks along with its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tribute and its entertaining “Guess the Composer” concert.

As the nation’s 12th-oldest community theater and Pennsylvania’s third-oldest, the Erie Playhouse is recognized as one of the 10 best community theaters in the United States.

The talent it has nurtured has gone from performing on its Erie stage to those on the Great White Way. Although its productions belie it, the Erie Playhouse is a community theater – its actors do not get paid but perform for their pure love of the theater.

That love often starts young. The Erie Playhouse’s Youtheatre offers opportunities for students aged 5 to 18 to participate in all areas of theatrical productions, from behindthe-scenes production to performing on stage.

Though the Playhouse has seen major renovations from seating, sound and lights, it begins its 101st season with a major gift from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) to complete stage renovations.

Talented troupes and university players perform on other stages around Erie. Classic Shakespeare as well as plays and musicals written by local playwrights and musicians can be found in All An Act Theatre Productions, the Station Dinner Theatre, the Performing Artists Collective Alliance (PACA), Gannon University’s Schuster Theatre, and Mercyhurst University’s Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center and Taylor Little Theatre.

Sissem explained growth within the arts and cultural sector comes from Erie’s support of

HOW DO THE ARTS

ENRICH

A COMMUNITY? Amanda Brown Sissem, executive director of Erie Arts & Culture, shared findings from the Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Index: •

Aesthetics: The arts create beauty and preserve it as part of culture.

•

Creativity: The arts encourage creativity, a critical skill in a dynamic world.

•

Expression: Artistic work lets us communicate our interests and visions.

•

Identity: Arts goods, services and experiences help define our culture.

•

Innovation: The arts are sources of new ideas, futures, concepts and connections.

•

Preservation: Arts and culture keep our collective memory intact.

•

Prosperity: The arts create millions of jobs in the U.S. and enhance economic health.

•

Skills: Arts aptitudes and techniques are needed in all sectors of society and work.

•

Social Capital: We enjoy the arts together, across races, generations and places.

In 2015, Erie County’s nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and their audiences: •

Contributed $42.2 million to the local economy and

•

Supported 672 full-time equivalent jobs

Source: Americans for the Arts, Arts & Economic Prosperity Report

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emerging artists and art-related businesses. “Flexible venues like PACA, the new ideaLAB planned at the Blasco Library, the human capital and equipment available through area campuses, and events which engage multiple artists to showcase and sell work like the Erie Art Museum’s Gallery Night, help enrich the soil.”

Museums What began in 1898 as an art gallery by the Art Club of Erie has steadily grown to a sprawling 80,000-square-foot complex that features yearround and traveling exhibits, education programs, art studios, a gift shop, café and frame shop. The Erie Art Museum hosts more than 65,000 visitors each year and features a collection of more than 8,000 works from around the world. So effective in its mission, in 2011, the museum was awarded the nation’s highest honor for museums – the National Medal for Museum and Library Service from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Sciences.

While the Erie Art Museum continually has anchored the Erie arts community, its annual Blues & Jazz Festival – which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year – perhaps finds a more diverse audience. Set in Frontier Park each summer, the festival features a family-friendly atmosphere showcasing regional and nationally known jazz artists and performers.

Erie’s art scene also includes a unique hands-on museum experience designed just for curious kids.

The expERIEnce Children’s Museum has been encouraging experiential learning for more than 20 years. With three floors, an outdoor classroom and more than 50 interactive exhibits, children are inspired to explore, imagine, problem solve and cooperate. Its Wegmans Kids Market is undoubtedly the museum’s most popular exhibit, featuring shopping carts, stocked store shelves, produce and deli departments, and a cash register and working conveyor belt.

Other museums conveniently located throughout the city include the Hagen History Center, Watson Curtze Mansion and the Erie Maritime Museum, home of the U.S. Brig Niagara.

But Erie’s art community is not confined to museum walls. Painters, sculptors, jewelers and photographers show and sell their works at local galleries such as the Urraro Art Gallery, Bayfront Gallery, Glass Growers Gallery and the Kada Gallery.

“Erie County has long been a home for makers and creatives,” Sissem said. “It’s difficult to live here and not know someone highly engaged in an art form – visual arts, music, poetry, dance, theater, digital arts and animation, or film – or a craft that they produce in their basements or garages as a hobby.”

reptiles and plants. TREC’s Big Green Screen, a four-story theater features educational films and documentaries about nature not limited to Presque Isle.

Just west of Erie is the Asbury Woods Nature Center. Set along the trails of Asbury Woods, the center offers learning experiences connecting all people to nature, stewardship and outdoor recreation. Popular with schools and with families, its diverse programs include live animal events, family night hikes, craft workshops and its annual Maple Festival.

The Arts are in Season In changing climate, there’s a reassuring constant. As flowers bloom, waters warm, leaves fall or snowflakes appear, the stage is always set for us to enjoy Erie’s arts and culture.

She explained that northeastern U.S. cities have a history of creativity and innovation that started with manufacturing. “It’s seen in the research, development and production lines of manufacturing,” she said. “Add to that our history as an immigrant community with diverse cultures sharing their unique art forms, songs, stories, fashions and culinary practices, and the academic might of our local universities.”

Nature as Art Those wanting a primer to Presque Isle, Erie’s largest outdoor classroom, head to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC). Located at the entrance of Presque Isle State Park, TREC is an environmental research center but its first charge is helping visitors understand the park’s history and unique ecosystem. Interactive exhibits and guided tours allow visitors to discover the natural beauty and learn about the park’s abundant birds, mammals, insects, fish,

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INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED PERFORMANCES brought to you by

AN EVENING OF CLASSIC LILY TOMLIN Tuesday, Nov. 7 | 7:30 p.m.

Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center

DANÚ: FÉILE NA NOLLAG (A CHRISTMAS GATHERING) Wednesday, Dec. 6 | 7:30 p.m.

Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center

IMAGO THEATRE: LA BELLE Saturday, Feb. 3 | 2 p.m.

Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center

AN EVENING WITH GARRISON KEILLOR Tuesday, Feb. 13 | 7:30 p.m.

Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center

TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET Thursday, March 15 | 7:30 p.m.

Walker Recital Hall

AN EVENING WITH JUDY COLLINS Thursday, April 26 | 7:30 p.m.

Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center

Strengthening the vibrancy of the Erie region through world-class performing arts experiences.

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Tickets at miac.mercyhurst.edu or 814-824-3000

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CONTACT US

ON THE LEADING EDGE

“WHAT LIES AHEAD” Barbara Chaffee | President/CEO As we look to the future I want to share this thought-provoking interview by the Managing Director of Daimler Benz. Of course we can’t predict at this time what might come to be, however it is worth the read and some discussion.

In a recent interview the MD of Daimler Benz (Mercedes Benz) said their competitors are no longer other car companies but Tesla (obvious), Google, Apple, Amazon et al. are. There have always been the three constants...

Death, Taxes and CHANGE! Here are most of the comments that followed: Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.

Uber is just a software tool, they don’t own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world.

Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don’t own any properties.

Artificial Intelligence Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world. This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected.

In the US, young lawyers already don’t get jobs. Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans.

So if you study law, stop immediately. There will be 90% fewer lawyers in the future, only specialists will remain.

Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, four times more accurate than human nurses. Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans. In 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.

Continued on Page 18

Nancy Irwin JOINS THE ERCGP STAFF Say hello to Nancy Irwin who recently joined the ERCGP staff as Development Director.

She most recently worked for Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania, where her duties included marketing and communications, membership recruitment, and retention. While at the Girl Scouts, she was an Erie Ambassador and a member of the Chamber Committee.

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Nancy earned her bachelor’s in communications and journalism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

She is a lifelong Erie resident, growing up in Girard and currently living in Millcreek with her husband, Jason, three daughters and labradoodle.

When you see Nancy out and about or at one of our events, be sure to give her a nice welcome!

about ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

by Jake Rouch

In late August, the ERCGP wrote an op-ed piece that ran in the Erie Times News regarding the concept of making Erie County Right-To-Work. The response to this editorial was predictably split. Business owners and managers were in favor, while labor advocates and union leadership were universally opposed.

Some criticized the ERCGP for being purposely divisive. We were not. The ERCGP was using its voice as a business organization with over 800 members to express an idea for consideration that would differentiate our region in a threestate area that covers 145,000 square miles and is home to 43.5 million people.

Ideas are meant to get people thinking and get people talking about problems and solutions. Whatever your business, it began with an idea that you could do it better or different to solve a problem or create opportunity. ERCGP believes that new ideas are a good thing for all of us to consider.

Lamenting losses or romanticizing the past do nothing to move us into the future – they keep us in a place of inaction. Ideas will help carry us forward – just as they carry your business forward every day.

If you did not like our idea, then offer us your own. We are all together in growing the business of Erie and we need all the help – and ideas – we can get to make Erie more successful.

from the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

by Linda Robbins

As the year winds into its last quarter of activity, we look forward to our annual Celebration of Excellence Signature Event, set for November 8, 2017 at the Bayfront Convention Center. This year we will be celebrating our manufacturing members and their collaboration with Erie’s art community assets. The evening’s highlights will also recognize the 2017 Athena Powerlink Participants and honor the 2017 Louis J. Tullio Award Recipient.

We promise to give our members a night to remember with food, drink and good fellowship.

The Erie Regional Chamber’s newly designed website, eriepa.com, has been launched and is spectacular! There are

several new features including a member employer job bank and online membership applications for both ERCGP and Young Erie Professional prospects.

Our new member networking event, Connect 4 Coffee has proven to be very popular. We have had three of these and they have all reached the maximum number of participants of 30, and host sponsors have been secured for the next several months! Check out the Calendar of Events to see where we will be the second Tuesday of each month.

The ERCGP is all about our members. If there are any suggestions or any way that we can be of help to you and your business or organization, please get in touch with any one of the staff members.

We are here for YOU! 9

UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE

59 The number of years Lake Erie Ballet has brought the production of The Nutcracker to the Warner Theater.

There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, the color of pumpkin.

Source: theholidayspot.com

95

Trick-or-treating evolved from the ancient Celtic tradition of putting out treats and food to placate spirits who roamed the streets at Samhain, a sacred festival that marked the end of the Celtic calendar year.

%

Source: theholidayspot.com

Erie County produces 95% of the grapes grown in Pennsylvania.

Source: Pennsylvania Trivia

$15,400,000,000 The grand total shoppers reported spending at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday.

Source: NFIB.com

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PHOTO GALLERIE

Connect 4 Coffee at the Mill Creek Coffee | September 12, 2017

Connect 4 Coffee at the Millcreek Mall | August 8, 2017

Business After Hours: Andover Bank | August 17, 2017

Business After Hours: Erie Federal Credit Union | September 15, 2017

Fall Member Fest | September 20, 2017

PHOTO GALLERIE

Erie Homecoming and Busines

ss Showcase| August 23, 2017

NEWS from ERIE

E vents

R ecognitions Thank you to the following members for your sponsorship of our Fall Member Fest event held on September 20th.

Your support helped make this year’s event a success!

Business After Hours

A monthly members-only networking event of the ERCGP. On average, 250 to 300 business professionals attend.

October 12, 5-7 p.m.

Voodoo Brewery Networking Technologies 109 Boston Store Place November 16, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Hagan Business Machines 1112 Peach Street December 14, 5-7 p.m.

Peek’n Peak Resort and Spa 1405 Olde Road Clymer, NY 14724 Check out our Calendar of Events to register!

Additional upcoming events!

Connect 4 Coffee October 10 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Agility Marketing 2323 West 38th Street

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Annual Meeting November 8th 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Celebration of Excellence 5:00pm-8:00pm Bayfront Convention Center 1 Sassafras Pier

Arvite Technologies Chautauqua Getaway Edinboro Beverage Erie Beer Erie Brewing Company Erie Philharmonic Erie Playhouse Five & 20 Spirits and Brewing Glenwood Beer Kal Darres Lorei Portraits Massage Envy Mazza Vineyard Millcreek Mall Networking Technologies Peek’n Peak Resort & Spa Penn Beer Petra Restaurant Potratz Floral Shop & Greenhouse Presque Isle Tent & Table Rivertown Brewing Rog’s Inc. Sheraton Erie Bayfront Signs Now South Shore Party Rental Splash Lagoon Studio Hue The Brewerie at Union Station Young Entrepreneur Society

I

nvestors

E erie Erie

Welcome to the following new investors!

We look forward to working with you.

Silver Level Members GTI Pennsylvania, LLC

Bronze Level Members

Top 10

Haunted Houses In Erie

Penn-Union Corporation

Investor Level Members Archery Encounters LLC Be Balanced Hormone Weight Loss Centers Bull Moose Marketing Computer Solutions CS Erie Disabled Veteran Solutions Mary E. Machuga, LLC Sayles Industries, LLC Swanson-Erie Do you know of a business that should be a member of the ERCGP? Refer them to Nancy Irwin, Development Director or Steve Walters, Sales Manager!

10. Old Main Tower At Mercyhurst College

9. Old Crowley Mansion 8. Gannon University 7. Cathedral Of St Paul 6. Nicky’s Pub 5. Watson-Curtze Mansion 4. The Brewerie At Union Station 3. Erie Cemetery 2. Wintergreen Gorge 1. Axe Murder Hollow Feeling brave?

Read each haunted house story here!

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YOUR MEMBERSHIP EDGE

Energy Savings Programs for ERCGP Members!

National Fuel Resources National Fuel Resources, Inc. (NFR) is among the largest non-utility suppliers of natural gas in this region. For more than 25 years, NFR has been helping home owners and businesses in New York and Pennsylvania with their natural gas costs.

Our customers have the ability to choose a wide array of pricing options tailored to meet the individual needs of each business. Price protection is critical when it comes to combating the volatility of commodity markets, and NFR offers significant flexibility and effectiveness in hedging gas costs.

Let’s chat and see how we can help your business save money!

OnDemand Energy Solutions OnDemand Energy was one of the first energy consultants in the nation to be licensed by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for electricity supply in 1998, and has been a market leader ever since. Today, we offer the widest array of supply products that include fixed price, blended, index and pool product options through the broadest and most well-respected group of energy suppliers in the United States. During the past 12 months alone, we have awarded supply contracts to over 20 different suppliers on behalf of our clients for meters of all sizes.

OnDemand is passionate about maximizing our clients’ savings by finding procurement solutions and savings for every meter type, regardless of size. We currently serve over 5,000 business customers representing over 20,000 commercial meters and manage over 4 billion kWh’s of annual electricity usage. The load that we represent in the market positions OnDemand as the largest consultant in the Mid-Atlantic region, and one of the largest in the nation.

Contact us to see how we can save YOUR bottom line!

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Thank You to Our Premium Sponsors

Sponsors

CUTTING THE RIBBON

Did you know?

As a member of the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership, our ribbon-cutting service is offered to new or expanding businesses commemorating a milestone!

Contact our Event Coordinator, Cathy Noble, to get more information and set your date!

Spherion

We look forward to celebrating with you!

September 14, 2017

Community Blood Bank September 21, 2017

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“WHAT LIES AHEAD” (CONT.)

Autonomous Cars In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear for the public. Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted. You don’t want to own a car anymore. You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination.

You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving. Our kids will never get a driver’s licence and will never own a car.

It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% fewer cars for that. We can transform former parking spaces into parks. 1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide. We now have one accident every 60,000 miles (100,000 km), with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 6 million miles (10 million km). That will save a million lives each year.

Most car companies will probably become bankrupt. Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels.

Many engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; are completely terrified of Tesla.

Insurance companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper.

Their car insurance business model will disappear.

Real estate will change. Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.

Electric cars will become mainstream about 2020. Cities will be less noisy because all new cars will run on electricity.

Electricity will become incredibly cheap and 18

clean: Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can now see the burgeoning impact.

Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil. Energy companies are desperately trying to limit access to the grid to prevent competition from home solar installations, but that can’t last.

Technology will take care of that strategy.

With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water. Desalination of salt water now only needs 2kWh per cubic meter (@ 0.25 cents). We don’t have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water. Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.

Health The Tricorder X price will be announced this year. There are companies who will build a medical device (called the “Tricorder” from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breath into it.

It then analyzes 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease. It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world-class medical analysis, nearly for free. Goodbye, medical establishment.

3D printing The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10 years.

In the same time, it became 100 times faster. All major shoe companies have already started 3D printing shoes.

Some spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports. The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large amount of spare parts they used to have in the past.

At the end of this year, new smart phones will have 3D scanning possibilities. You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoe at home.

In China, they already 3D printed and built a complete 6-story office building. By 2027, 10% of everything that’s being produced will be 3D printed.

Business Opportunities If you think of a niche you want to go into, ask yourself: “In the future, do you think we will have that?” and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner?

If it doesn’t work with your phone, forget the idea. And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed to failure in the 21st century.

Work 70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a small time.

Agriculture There will be a $100 agricultural robot in the future. Farmers in third world countries can then become managers of their field instead of working all day on their fields.

Aeroponics will need much less water.

The first Petri dish produced veal, is now available and will be cheaper than cow produced veal in 2018. Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces is used for cows. Imagine if we don’t need that space anymore. There are several startups who will bring insect protein to the market shortly. It contains more protein than meat.

It will be labelled as “alternative protein source” (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).

There is an app called “moodies” which can already tell which mood you’re in. By 2020 there will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions if you are lying. Imagine

a political debate where it’s being displayed when they’re telling the truth and when they’re not.

Bitcoin may even become the default reserve currency ... of the world!

Longevity Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year. Four years ago, the life span used to be 79 years, now it’s 80 years. The increase itself is increasing and by 2036, there will be more than one year increase per year. So we all might live for a long, long time, probably way more than 100.

Education The cheapest smart phones are already at $10 in Africa and Asia. By 2020, 70% of all humans will own a smart phone. That means, everyone has the same access to world class education.

Source: LinkedIn.com

Bring Your Conference To Erie, PA

Whether it’s a board meeting for 10, a military reunion for 50, or a convention for 4,000, make VisitErie your first call.

FREE CONVENTION SERVICES Hotel Proposal Gathering Site Visit Coordination Press Release Distribution Promotional Materials VIP Gift Baskets Name Badges

Contact Joe Holody 814.454.1000 x 126 | jholody@visiterie.com | visiterie.com/meetingplanner VISITERIE MAJOR SPONSORS:

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Arts and cultural activities:

• • • • •

Make Erie a community of choice and a destination for tourists Teach creativity, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration Create jobs and contribute over $42 million annually to the local economy Are assets in new business and talent attraction Promote community pride

Create More Art. GIVE TODAY to the annual Arts & Culture Campaign at www.erieartsandculture.org.

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Manufacturers - Paper Manufacturers - Plastic Manufacturers - Steel Manufacturers - Tool & Die Manufacturers - Windows Manufacturers - Wood Manufacturing Services Media Mental Health Services Metal Finishing Motorcycle / Repair / Sales Moving Natural Gas Nonprofit Organizations Office Equipment Office Furniture Office Supplies Paint Supplier

Payroll Services Pest Control Photographers Physicians / Surgeons Printers Publishers Real Estate - Commercial Real Estate - Developers Real Estate - Management Real Estate - Mortgages Real Estate - Residential Real Estate - Title Service Records Management Recreation Recycling Rehabilitation / Therapy Rental Service Residential Care Restaurants Restaurants - Cafe Restaurants - Pizza Restaurants - Taverns Restoration Retail Retail - Carpet / Floors Retail - Chocolate Retail - Dept. Stores Retail - Furnishings Retail - Gallery Retail - Hardware Retail - Jewelry Retail - Jewelry / Design Retail - Resale Retail - Specialty Stores Retail - Sporting Goods Safety Consultant Security / Safety Signs Social Clubs Social Service Specialty Stores Storage / Warehouse Surveying / Engineering Telecommunications Telecommunications Consultants Telephone Service Testing Lab Toilets - Portable Tourist Information Center Training Transportation - Medical Transportation - Misc.

Transportation Services Trucking Uniform Services Utilities Veterinarians Video Water Treatment Web Design Wholesalers - General Merchandise Wholesalers - Steel Wineries

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On the WATER’S EDGE