TalkErie.com - The Joel Natalie Show - Erie Pennsylvania Daily Podcast

On Monday, we welcomed leaders to discuss the efforts  to include and uplift members of our minority communities as we all work to move Erie forward. Our conversation included Gary Horton, President of the NAACP and the Urban Erie Community Development Corporation; City of Erie Community Liaison Michael Outlaw; and City of Erie Refugee and Immigrant Liaison, Niken Astari Carpenter. 

Friday, our focus was on the millennial generation.  How are these young people making a difference in the community?  We’ll hear from Joel's son, Joshua Natalie, who grew up and was educated here in Erie, and now has a successful career as a mechanical engineer in Indiana.  We’ll talk to Sean Fedorko, the Co-Founder of Radius CoWork: a community of startups, freelancers, remote wor...

We went to the experts Thursday to talk about our neighbors and family members navigating mental health issues. Our guests included Denise Kolivoski, Executive Director of NAMI, psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Sipple, Julie Mannarino, LCSW, and Jeffrey Natalie, Regional Director of Community Care Behavioral Health.

On Wednesday, we filled the relational toolboxes of parents and grandparents in our listening audience as they navigate the challenges and joys of raising children. Our guests included Dr. Tom Matta, PhD and licensed marriage and family therapist, Connie Osiecki, licensed professional counselor and part of the team at the Erie Family Center, and Ed and Debbie Mattson, parents of eight grown c...

A very important part of our community is the hard work done by our non-profit organizations. Whether it is health and human services, education, or arts and culture, our non-profit sector contributes greatly to Erie's quality of life. We spoke with Adam Bratton of the Nonprofit Partnership, Mike Bachelor, President of the Erie Community Foundation,  Tracy Dailey, Founder of Emma's Footprints...

Just as important as Erie's maritime heritage is our position as a place for advanced manufacturing. We invited several leaders from the manufacturing sector who everyday affirm our Maker City brand. Tom Woolslayer, Quality Engineer of Ameridrives, Mark Rose, plant manager-Erie at Lord Corporation, Phil Kerner, The Tool and Dye Guy and toolmaker at Industrial Sales and Manufacturing, and Aaron Lew...

Another substantive, uplifting and challenging conversation Friday as we brought on church leaders to talk about the state of our faith communities. Joel Natalie interviewed Bishop Lawrence Persico, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie in a wide-ranging conversation about protecting and reaching out to the 1,000's of Catholics in the geographically-largest diocese in Pennsylvania. Then Pasto...

On Thursday's broadcast, we had a unique conversation with four leaders with distinct perspectives on the opportunities available for recent high school graduates. We talked with Brenton Davis, Erie's Working Man about the trades and skills gap. Maryanne Chaffee represented the Northern Pennsylvania Regional College about their new associate degree programs available. Char Beiter talked about what...

We brought in experts on multiple levels of the Erie real estate market Wednesday to learn where we stand as a commercial and residential market, and to give tips to buyers and sellers for 2019. Listen to our conversations with Chuck Peters, managing partner at Altair Real Estate Services, Paul Kitchen, lead of the Paul Kitchen Team at Remax Real Estate, and Amy Westbrook, agent at Marsha Marsh Re...

What does it take to start a business, what opportunities are available, what partners and programs can you tap into to start and grow your idea. We had a lively conversation Tuesday with Beth Zimmer of the Innovation Collaborative, Jeff Parnell, CEO of FishUSA, and Dave and Jessica Lewis, who are serial entrepreneurs, beginning multiple businesses, with experience in working in the "gig economy."

On the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday, we went on location to the King Memorial March to bring back the sounds and stories from the event. We interviewed Erie County Councilman Andre Horton on King's legacy and the state of people of color in Erie.

On Friday we pulled together the top officials of Erie's tourism and hospitality ecosystem, who are responsible for managing and marketing our top assets for visitors. Our conversations included Nick Scott, Sr., from Scott Enterprises, the "patriarch" of the Erie hotel industry, John Oliver, CEO of VisitErie, and Brian Gorman of Waldameer Park and Waterworld

On Thursday, we heard the story of Paul and Shani Bills, and how Paul's medical emergency caused their family to touch nearly every aspect of the medical infrastructure in Western Pennsylvania. Then we talked to Erie County Health Director Melissa Lyon, on the 21st century public health model. Finally, we had David Gibbons, president of UPMC Hamot join us in studio as he discussed the capabilities...

Strong households make strong neighborhoods, which in turn make a strong community. We chatted with John Villa from the Neighborhood Resource Organization along with Anna Frantz, Executive Director of Our West Bayfront. Also, Bob Hand from the Academy Neighborhood Association called in. We talked about how we all can be good neighbors, while our leaders focus the fight against blight and crime.

The alarming poverty rates in Erie County and city are the reason hundreds of leaders in our community are mobilized to turn the tide, and bring hope to our citizens. We heard from Mary Bula, director of Erie Together, Georgia Del Freo, VP at GECAC, Bill Jackson, CEO of the United Way, and Laurie Root, Senior VP at the United Way.

There is fundamental change occurring in the economic development ecosystem here in Erie County. We had a substantive conversation with the new CEO of the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership, James Grunke, John Persinger from the Erie Downtown Development Corp., and Chris Groner, Economic Development specialist at the City of Erie.

On the Friday edition of the Joel Natalie Show, we tried lighten things up as we talked about the quality of life that comes through our arts organizations. What we learned however, is that it is a major challenge to fund these important community assets. With us were Patrick Fisher of Erie Arts and Culture, Joshua Helmer from the Erie Art Museum, and Fr. Shawn and Almi Clerkin, a prominent couple...

We are advancing the narrative every day here on the Joel Natalie Show. Thursday, we welcomed members of the UnifiedErie anti-violence initiative and heard the latest news on the reduction of violent crime in the city and county. Our conversation included Marshall Piccinini, federal prosecutor for Erie, EPD Deputy Chief Jon Nolan, Sheila Silman from Erie County Re-Entry Services and Support Allian...

We had a wide-ranging conversation Wednesday as we discussed the State of Farms & Agriculture during Pennsylvania Farm Show week. Our guests: Grechen Hinkson, dairy farmer, Tom McClure from the Erie County Conservation District, Mark Troyer, a large-scale potato and corn farmer from Troyer, Inc., and Anthony Honeycutt, agricultural educator from the Northwestern School District.

We had a major conversation about the State of Education, and invited representatives of three levels of the K-12 structure. Our guests were General McLane School Superintendent Rick Scaletta, Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy Dean Jim Vierra, and teachers Emily Mountford, Faith Natalie, along with my brother Pete Natalie.

Latest episode of Joel Natalie Show - The Big Issue

Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper along with Dr. Perry Wood from Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority were our guests during the first week of the Joel Natalie Show on TalkErie.com. We talked about the many areas that Erie County improves the lives of its citizens, and how ECGRA is using local gaming revenue to make a difference in our community.

Erie Mayor Joe Schember was our guest on the first full program of the Joel Natalie Show on TalkErie.com. We talked about where Erie is at in the various parts of civic life, his vision for the city, and leadership style.