A grand re-opening is planned for tonight at Max & Erma’s, the restaurant at 2078 Interchange Road, that underwent renovations two weeks ago.
The festivities – including performances by the Fort LeBoeuf High School Jazz Band, the Jon Sedelmyer & Rob Gibson Band and a magician — begin at 5 p.m., with a ribbon cutting planned for 6 p.m.
Among the evening’s activities are beer tastings by Lavery Brewing and Erie Brewing, and complimentary appetizers.
The new restaurant features a new “date-night section” where the front porch used to be. The lighting has been changed, and the chairs have been replaced by seats that allow couples to sit together. A fireplace has been added to separate the date-night seating area from the larger dining room. Among other changes: more seating in the bar and more local beers.
The menu has also been tweaked to include three salads, including the once popular Hula Bowl Salad, and two new burgers.
Max and Erma’s has been in Erie for 11 years. It employs 50 to 55 people
“It has been one of our best (performers) for a long time,” said Steve Weis, president of Max & Erma’s.

There’s a new, locally owned shoe store coming to the Millcreek Mall.

Owners and spouses John and Jessica Fee plan to open Jess’  Choice by early July.

The store, a 2,000-square-foot space that will be located next door to Zales jewelry, is desribed by the owners as a store dedicated to fashionable women’s shoes.

“My husband and I have traveled coast to coast looking for beautiful and affordable shoes that aren’t here in Erie but should be,” co-owner Jessica Fee said.  “We are calling the store Jess’ Choice because I have hand-selected all of these styles for Erie.”

Among the brand names to be offered are Steve Madden, Mojo Moxy, Ivanka Trump, ALBA and Charles Jourdan.

For more information, visit: www.jesschoice.com

A union representing employees at GE Transportation has filed an unfair labor practices charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board.

That complaint, filed in Pittsburgh this morning by the United Electrical Radio and Machines Workers of America, claimed that the company improperly removed work from its Erie plant without providing written notice and the opportunity for the union to bargain.

The charge of unfair labor practice comes as GE Transportation and its union workforce are in the midst of a 60-day decision bargaining process following an April 9 announcement by the company that it plans to eliminate 950 union jobs in Erie, moving much of that work to Texas.

The charges filed with the NLRB refers not to the current bargaining process, but to jobs lost late in 2012 and early in 2013 when the company began production in Fort Worth.

In a prepared statement, the union said it is “asking the NLRB to order that the work be returned to Erie and to enter an injunction preventing any further transfer of work from the Erie plant.”

Erie Insurance, Erie County’s third-largest employer, is No. 455 on Fortune’s ranking of the largest American companies based on total revenue.
Erie Insurance made its initial debut on the FORTUNE 500 in 2003.
“For 88 years, we’ve built a reputation for outstanding financial protection and superior service,” said Terry Cavanaugh, president and chief executive officer of Erie Insurance. “Our continued presence on the Fortune 500 is a testament to the confidence and trust our customers place in us every day.”

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority has approved a $208,000 grant to help build a compressed natural gas filling station at the Birkmire Trailer Co. facility in McKean Township at Interstate 90 and Route 832.

That funding is part of a $2.6 million project by Butler-based Birkmire. The company plans to convert 15 trucks so they will be able to burn both CNG and diesel fuel. Six new CNG trucks also are being purchased.

The company’s new filling station could provide access to other trucking companies in the area and will feature a 125-gallon-per-hour CNG compressor.

The grant money was provided through the Alternative and Clean Energy program.

The project is expected to save 359,000 gallons of diesel each year.

The Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle grocery chain, which has five locations in the Erie area, is offering a quicker pathway to a free tank of gas as the summer driving season approaches.

Effective today, participating locations, including stores in Erie, Meadville, Franklin and Oil City, will temporarily double the benefits of its Fuel Perks rewards program.

Advantage Card holders, who typically receive a 10-cent discount for gas at GetGo service stations for every $50 they spend on groceries, gift cards or pharmacy purchases, will see those rewards double to 20 cents through May 29.

The offer, along with other incentives, “demonstrate commitment to delivering value to area customers,” said Rob Borella, the company’s director of corporate communications.

The General Electric Co., which recently asked Erie’s General Electric Federal Credit Union to change its name, isn’t the only company that’s protective of its name.

In Clarksburg, W.Va., the board of park commissioners found out recently the Scott Enterprises, owner of Splash Lagoon Indoor Water Park in Summit Township, thought one Splash Lagoon was enough.

According to a report in the Exponent Telegram in West Virginia, park commissioners in Clarksburg agreed recently to change the name of its aquatic center after receiving a letter from Splash Lagoon.

Clarksburg’s Splash Lagoon, described as a family aquatic center, will now be known as City Parks of Clarksburg Splash Zone.

“We didn’t think there would be an issue, since it’s so far away and they’re two different facilities,” said John Cooper, park superintendent in Clarksburg. “Theirs is a huge indoor water park, and ours is an outdoor mini water park. But they took exception, so we complied with their request.”

There’s nothing unusual about Splash Lagoon’s interest in protecting its name.

It’s considered standard practice in corporate America for companies to fend off challenges to their identity.

Channellock Inc. in Meadville, one of he world’s largest makers of pliers, goes a step further. Companies that make blue-handled pliers are routinely warned if their blue is too close to Channellock’s blue.

Inside the walls of GE Transportation, the acronym GETS is known to stand for GE Transportation Systems.

But that familiar phrase has taken on a new meaning on a T-shirt that’s been spotted around the Lawrence Park plant. On this black shirt, the orange letters spell out “Giving Erie The Shaft,” an apparent reference to the company’s plan to eliminate more than 1,000 local jobs.

The company and Local 506 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America are in the midst of a 60-day negotiating process aimed at reducing the number of jobs lost.

At least for now, neither the union nor the company is commenting directly on the status of those negotiations.
But a source inside the union did confirm that the shirts don’t bear the UE logo and aren’t being purchased, sold or sanctioned by UE 506.

Erie lawyer Ron DiNicola, who can already claim Erie County government and boxing great Muhammad Ali as clients, has been retained by 3,500 new clients — union members at GE Transportation.

On April 18, in one of his first official acts as the new president of Local 506 of the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America, Scott Duke proposed the union retain DiNicola to assist in the decision bargaining with GE Transportation.
Earlier in April, the company had announced its intention to eliminate 950 union jobs and 100 management positions at its Lawrence Park plant.

As part of a process called decision bargaining, the company and its main union have entered negotiations aimed at reducing the number of lost jobs.

DiNicola, a former Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress, has a history with the UE.

The union retained him in 2010 after more than a 1,000 of its members were denied a bid for federal Trade Adjustment Assistance, which provides wide-reaching benefits to employees who lose their jobs due to foreign competition.

With DiNicola’s assistance, the union won those benefits after submitting its third application.

DiNicola confirmed that he’s working with the UE, but said he won’t provide a commentary on the negotiating process.
“The parties have elected to refrain from providing a color commentary on the negotiations. That is appropriate,” DiNicola said.

For more coverage of GE Transportation, visit: http://goerie.com/section/ge

— Jim Martin