Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Erie Exodus?

GE Transportation announced yesterday that it is laying off hundreds of worker from the plant in my hometown of Erie, PA. Currently, this story is the most e-mailed at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. What is news in Erie interests a lot of people in Pittsburgh. I'm keeping an eye on what Global Erie's Peter Panepento has to say.

How will these layoffs impact Erie? My Rust Belt out-migration started with a shrinking workforce at the same GE plant. The economic downturn pushed my father, and thus my family, from Erie to Schenectady, NY and eventually Burlington, VT. Job seekers could hit the road again. I hear that Pittsburgh-based manufacturing is starved for talent. Regardless, I expect to see some Rust Belt reshuffling before the economy recovers.

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