For Terry Cavanaugh, President & CEO of Erie Insurance, company founder H.O. Hirt exemplifies the spirit of American entrepreneurship.

Started in 1925 as an insurer of automobiles, the carrier has grown from offering one service to a multi-line company, including auto, business, commercial, home and life insurance through a network of 8,800 independent insurance agents in 2000-plus agencies. The company also has more than 4,250 employees in 24 offices.

“Mr. Hirt really is a creature of the entrepreneurial spirit in Pennsylvania,” Cavanaugh said. “He took a single idea in 1925 and tied it to the creation of the automobile and, more specifically, the combustion engine. From there, Erie has grown to become a $3.9 billion company.”

That same spirit is still alive today as Erie works to be “Above All in s^ERv^Ic^E.”

“When a person has $1,000 in their pocket, making an insurance purchase is not the first thing on their mind,” Cavanaugh said. “People don’t get warm and fuzzy about buying insurance. But we ask ourselves, 'what does the customer want, what does the customer need?' And we offer services that bring them peace of mind.”

The 18th largest insurance company in the United States with a geographic presence in 11 states and the District of Columbia, Erie adheres to the principles of disciplined underwriting, fair pricing and a prudent investment philosophy.

“These factors have contributed to our ability to earn consistently superior ratings in the insurance industry,” Cavanaugh said.” The combination of a quality agency force, a commitment to customer service and the financial stability provided by Erie Insurance Group assures you that we’ll be there when you need us most.”

Team Pennsylvania Founding Board Member Tom Hagen, who is chairman of Erie Insurance Board of Directors, said the company is the second largest employer in the region and adds economic diversity to an area that is recognized for its manufacturing-based industries.

“As one of the largest property/casualty writers in the United States, Erie Insurance created an entire industry here in the Erie region,” Hagen said. “When you consider that it has always been here and that Erie Insurance is located in the heart of downtown, you start to realize how important this company is to the people in this part of the commonwealth.”

STATE COLLEGE – Pennsylvania is in “the race,” a race for the state to secure its share of up to $5 billion in federal funding for its schools.

And Team Pennsylvania Foundation is helping to facilitate that process.

The Foundation recently convened 150 superintendents and school administration officials from across the state to update them on the Investing in Innovation (i3) and The Race to the Top (RttT) initiatives, two federally funded programs designed to drastically reform education across the nation.

RttT is a $4.35 billion federal grant fund to assist states in implementing comprehensive and unprecedented education reform plans while i3 is a $650 million competitive grant initiative designed to spur even greater innovation.

“These two funding opportunities provide an unprecedented opportunity to invest in our greatest asset, our children,” Matt Zieger, Chief Operating Officer, Team Pennsylvania Foundation, told the assembled educators. “These investments will drive needed improvements for Pennsylvania’s schools to continue to reach the level needed to help ensure students are not only able to compete in our current economy, but that they are able to build, invent and lead in the next economy.”

Tom Gluck, Executive Deputy Secretary, PA Department of Education, said the RttT application requires states to document their past success and create comprehensive strategies in four central areas of reform that will drive school improvement and student achievement.

Gluck said adopting standards and assessments that prepare students for college and workplace success; implementing data systems that measure student success and inform instruction; creating and supporting effective teachers and principals; ensuring equitable distribution; and turning around lowest achieving schools are the main goals of RttT.

“This (funding opportunity) makes the case that we have been trying to make: that investing in education does matter,” Gluck said. “And the education community is really ready, but for the resources, to accelerate the progress we are making, to take education to a whole new level, and really get our students ready for the demands of the 21st century so that our communities, our state, our country can really be ready to compete.”

Given the complex nature of the application, the Foundation has agreed to provide resources to assist the state in creating the necessary documents and to ensure the commonwealth meets the RttT application deadline of January 19, Zieger said.

“Due to the hundreds of man-hours this highly competitive grant application requires to complete, Team PA Foundation had been funding research and grant-writing support in partnership with the Gates, GE and Willam Penn foundations to assist Pennsylvania in developing a highly competitive application,” Zieger said. “Team PA’s support in this endeavor will most certainly help the state compete for the larger pool of funding.”

Zieger said the commonwealth has a competitive advantage over other states in the RttT application process thanks to the Foundation-sponsored Pennsylvania STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Initiative, which awards extra priority points to states that currently have STEM programs.

“President Obama highlighted the Pennsylvania STEM Initiative last April as a national model for other states to follow, and we believe that the strengths of our program should benefit Pennsylvania and its Race to the Top application,” Zieger said. “In a very competitive race like this, it could be the difference in edging out a competing state.”

Shivam Mallick Shah, Office of Innovation and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, provided via video conference from Washington, D.C., an overview of the i3 funding initiative.

Shah said i3 will provide competitive grants to applicants with a record of improving student achievement in order to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact on a number of benchmarks.

Those benchmarks include: improving student achievement or student growth for high-need students; promoting school readiness; closing achievement gaps; decreasing dropout rates; increasing high school graduation rates; and improving teacher and school leader effectiveness.

“i3 is one part of unprecedented federal direct investment in education,” Shah said, “with $650 million to be obligated by September 30, 2010.”

Raymond Omer, Middle School Principal, Sharon Middle/High School, said his district will be applying for the i3 and RttT funding.

“It’s nice to see the state of Pennsylvania has had a lot of foresight…” Omer said. “We are in a position that these two initiatives are natural fits for what many schools in Pennsylvania are already doing. It only makes sense that if we are to be preparing students for what society needs that we should be partnering with society – and these grants are a natural way to do that.”

Don McKinney, Program Coodinator, Philadelphia Math and Science Coalition, Philadelphia Education Fund, said he was uncertain whether the coalition will apply for funding, but noted some of their nearly 50 partners in his region will and added his organization is prepared to assist them in that process – especially for the STEM component of the RttT application.

During the lunch hour, the school representatives were seated with their five STEM regional leaders to receive an overview of STEM within their given regions and for networking opportunities.

Letters of support for race funding sought

Pennsylvania has been presented with a wonderful opportunity to secure its share of up to $400 million in federal funding for its schools, but the state urgently needs your help.

The Race to the Top is an unprecedented federal program that will reward states that have raised student performance in the past and have the capacity to accelerate achievement gains with innovative reforms.

As the only state to see increases in student achievement in elementary, middle and high school from 2002 to 2008 and because of such programs as the Pennsylvania STEM Initiative, the commonwealth is in an excellent position to receive this funding. State officials have been fervently working on the grant proposal that will help elevate student achievement in Pennsylvania to an even higher level.

More importantly, this funding will be a major investment in the STEM regional networks as the regional representatives carry forward the incredible work they have accomplished over the past two years.

You can assist in this process by writing your letter of support. Click to read more or to see the form letter. You are also welcome to write your own letter as well.

Time is of an urgent matter, however, as all letters must be received at the Pennsylvania Department of Education by Friday, January 15.

A PDF of your letter to endorse Pennsylvania’s Race to the Top application can be e-mailed to: ra-pde@state.pa.us; you can fax it to 717-783-8230; or mail it to:

Leah Harris, RTTT
PA Department of Education
333 Market St., 10th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333

Fourteen years after the state passed the Electricity Generation Choice and Competition Act, the largest segment of consumers in Pennsylvania was given the opportunity to pick the electric supplier of their choice for the generation portion of their bill on January 1. Rate caps expire for those areas of the state that haven’t seen them end already on Jan. 1, 2011.

While the price of electricity did increase for the 1.4 million business and residential customers in the PPL service territory, consumers have the right to choice their provider and implement energy-saving programs that also cut the use – and overall cost – of electricity.

“The most important thing a business or residential consumer can do is shop around,” said Raymond Murphy Jr., Manager, Major Accounts, PPL. “It may sound like shopping for a provider is overrated, but it really provides the best opportunity for a customer to save money. I can’t overemphasize how important it is to shop around.”

Murphy encourages businesses and residential consumers to shop for the price and type of service that best fits their needs.

“All customers can – and should – shop for a generation supplier, but those who can benefit most from shopping include businesses with specific characteristics,” Murphy said. “Those characteristics include businesses with high energy use, predictable load curve, favorable timing of load and curtailable or interruptible load.”

Another factor to reducing the financial impact felt by the increase in the price of electric generation is to conserve energy, Murphy said.

“When gasoline went to $4 a gallon, you didn’t see people just driving around anymore, they planned their trips and drove more prudentially,” Murphy said. “Just like gasoline, the price of electricity has been so cheap the past decade that there has been no real need for people to cut back. Now that the price is going up, we expect to see residential and business customers take steps to conserve energy.”

Murphy said Pennsylvania passed into law Act 129 of 2008, which is energy efficiency and conservation legislation. The law gives the Public Utility Commission more oversight responsibilities and imposes new requirements on electric distribution companies (EDCs), with the overall goal of reducing energy consumption and demand.

“Every electric distribution company with 100,000 or more customers must participate in the program,” Murphy noted.

While residential and business customer participation in one or more of the various programs that EDCs will offer is completely voluntary, Murphy said real savings opportunities are available to savvy consumers.

“We have seen electric rates caps come off, but we are also witnessing programs being rolled out that have the potential for substantial savings for those who are willing to take advantage of them,” Murphy said.

Murphy added that PPL, as a Provider of Last Resort, is prohibited by the Pennsylvania Utility Commission (PUC) from making a profit on the generation portion of an electricity bill.

“There is no profit in the generation of electricity for Providers of Last Resort,” Murphy said. “The customer pays the same price we pay.”

For additional details on what energy efficiency and conservation programs are available to residential and business consumer, contact the electricity provider in your area.

Information about utility choice is available at www.puc.state.pa.us/utilitychoice or at the Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate at www.oca.state.pa.us

For more information on Act 129, please visit the PUC Web site at www.puc.state.pa.us/electric/Act_129_info.aspx

Renewable energy sources are getting a lot of attention across the country, and no place is that more evident than in Pennsylvania. The commonwealth expects to triple its solar capacity in 2010 with nearly $23 million in new grants and loans for companies throughout the state that are embracing renewable energy.

"From a 134-acre solar park in the northeast to hot water heaters for Pittsburgh firehouses, Pennsylvania is investing in its energy future," says Governor Edward G. Rendell. "Thanks to the groundwork we've laid during the past several years, we are ready to create a brighter future for Pennsylvania's renewable energy industry while advancing our energy independence."

In fact, the Commonwealth Financing Authority recently approved eight projects for funding by the solar energy program, a key component of the $650 million Alternative Energy Investment Fund that Governor Rendell signed into law in July 2009.

For example, in Carbon County, Conshohocken-based PA Solar Park LLC will receive a $5.5 million grant for a 10-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant, part of a $78 million PA Solar Park that is being developed on 134 acres by Green Energy Capital Partners. PA Solar Park will be the second-largest solar photovoltaic energy facility in the United States and will include a visitor's center that will double as a regional renewable energy training center. The facility will generate enough electricity to power about 1,450 homes.

In Montgomery County, Merck & Co. will receive a $1 million grant toward an $11.3 million, 1.6-megawatt solar photovoltaic system that will generate about 22 percent of the electricity for its Upper Gwynedd Township facility. Also, Solar Roofing Systems Inc., or SRS Energy, was approved for a $430,000 grant for the acquisition of $7.3 million in equipment to manufacture solar roofing tile at a facility in Lansdale.

And in Philadelphia County, Brown's Super Store Inc. received a $1 million grant for a $5.1 million project to install a 695-kilowatt rooftop solar voltaic system on its ShopRite Supermarket in Cheltenham, which will greatly reduce electricity costs and help preserve 283 jobs.

Those are four of the eight projects approved, with others in Allegheny, Schuylkill, Westmoreland and York counties.

"Even in this economic downturn, we're creating jobs, expanding Pennsylvania's manufacturing base and producing more environmentally friendly, home-grown energy options," says Governor Rendell. "These projects – which will also help consumers, businesses and local governments lower their energy costs and fossil fuel consumption – illustrate how Pennsylvania is becoming a leader in renewable energy."