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In Erie, social services are a lifeline

Jul 26, 2018
New work requirements may change things for those who receive food and housing assistance in the Pennsylvania city.
Roberta Lubman, 66, regularly eats lunch at the Erie City Mission in downtown Erie. The free daily meal supplements what she receives from SNAP.
Erika Beras/Marketplace

How the energy boom shaped a small town in rural America

Jun 12, 2018
About a decade ago, some in this country saw fracking as the solution to decades of economic decline. But others were determined to stop it.
A Consol Energy horizontal gas drilling rig explores the Marcellus Shale outside the town of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, in 2012.
MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images

Some former coal towns turn to nature tourism as a new economic driver

Feb 28, 2018
Tourism economy around natural beauty is starting to replace extractive industries in some former West Virginia and PA coal towns.
Cyclists cross a bridge over the Youghiogheny River, veering off the Great Allegheny Passage, to check out downtown West Newton.
Courtesy of Rick Armstrong

From engineer to coffee shop owner in Erie, Pennsylvania

Feb 21, 2018
Millennial Hannah Kirby believes bringing back manufacturing work is unrealistic, and that young people have to create those family-sustaining jobs that once existed.
After settling in Erie, Hannah Kirby sees the city differently than many of her neighbors: She sees a lot of potential.
Daisy Palacios/Marketplace

Who's better off in Erie's changing economy?

Feb 21, 2018
Local residents discuss the national — and their personal — economies.
Over drinks at the Polish Falcon, Erie residents discussed their personal economies.
Daisy Palacios/Marketplace

Satisfied with Trump in rural Pennsylvania

Feb 20, 2018
We check in with small business owners about changes they've seen with Trump as president.
Union City, Pennsylvania — population 3,300, is located in the rural outskirts of Erie.
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General Electric built this town, but its presence is shrinking

Jan 19, 2018
The company plans to leave the locomotive manufacturing industry in a few years.
Jim Connelly, a former GE engineer, hopes to go back to school and start his own business. He sits at the Lawrence Park Dinor, just up the street from the 350-acre GE plant.
Erika Beras/Marketplace

U.S. manufacturing is on track for a strong year after a recession rebound

Jan 18, 2018
President Donald Trump is visiting a heavy equipment plant in Pittsburgh today, to campaign for a Republican candidate looking to fill a vacant congressional seat there. The president is expected to promote the new tax bill and tout recent growth in U.S. manufacturing — a sector he campaigned on saving.  Click the audio player above […]

There's no giving up on coal in Greene County, Pennsylvania

Dec 1, 2017
While there's plenty of money for free job training in health care and trucking, local workers pack coal classes instead.
Students sit in a miner training class at a career center in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
Erika Beras/Marketplace