12-11-03
ECONOMIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE ROLLS OUT ERIE DATA WEB SITE
Free, in-depth information about Erie County's demographics and economy is at your fingertips on www.eriedata.org a site that offers the type of data needed to complete grant applications, business plans, and economic comparisons, as well as many other uses. The first in-depth demonstration of the site took place on Thursday, December 11, before a group of community and business leaders at Knowledge Park.
The new Web site was developed by the Economic Research Institute of Erie (ERIE), an outreach center of the Sam and Irene Black School of Business at Penn State Behrend. Developed in collaboration with the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership and with initial seed money from the Erie Community Foundation, the site offers fast downloads of data covering thousands of variables for Erie, with comparable data for the United States, as well as downloadable graphs and a library of recent studies about Erie.
"Having accurate and easily accessible information about the region is an important part of Erie County's economic development plan," said Dr. James A. Kurre, associate professor of economics at Penn State Behrend and co-director of ERIE. "ERIEdata.org meets that need by providing a wealth of facts that used to be hard to find, and hard to organize. This site covers information on productivity, exports, patents, building permits, cost of living, and many other variables, some going as far back as 1950. And it's all downloadable in a user-friendly format."
Kurre and his ERIE co-director, Dr. Barry Weller, hosted the December 11 demonstration and will also be available to meet with groups who wish to learn more about the information available on the site and how to use it. ERIE has served as advisor to Erie's Civic Coordinating Committee (C-Cubed), which promotes economic development in Erie.
Contact:
Loretta Brandon
814-898-6063 (O)
E-mail: lzb6@psu.edu