ECGRA History - Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA)

2004

Passed in 2004, the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act was designed to greatly benefit Pennsylvanians by ensuring gaming jobs and gaming revenue aid local organizations and residents. Just a few of the benefits are noted below.

Across Pennsylvania, the gaming industry has created more than 16,000 living wage jobs.
For every dollar produced as revenue, slot machine play returns 54¢-55¢ to Pennsylvanians (see breakdown here)

In Erie County, Pa., a full 1% of the annual gross revenue of Presque Isle Downs and Casino returns to Erie residents.

Erie County government receives the first ½% and uses it to underwrite bonds for transformational projects, such as the Erie International Airport, Tom Ridge Field runway extension and upgrades to Erie Insurance Arena.

The second half ½% of Erie County’s gaming revenue has been entrusted to the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority to invest in projects and initiatives that invigorate the Erie County, Pa., economy.

2008

ECGRA was established in 2008 by forward-thinking members of Erie County Council and charged with administering municipal grants and serving as Erie County’s economic development authority, according to the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act.

Members of ECGRA’s first board of directors were key to creating a foundation for making a substantial economic impact in Erie with ECGRA’s ½%--approximately $5.7 million year.

The Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority has invested nearly $6 million to spur Erie County business growth and buttress Erie youth and education initiatives.

ECGRA’s Ignite Erie™ program improves Erie’s economic outlook through impact investments in three key areas: inner-city small business development; industry+university collaborations for business acceleration; and business financing. Ignite Erie partners are inspiring entrepreneurs, advancing business concepts, uncovering local and global market opportunities, creating jobs, renewing neighborhoods, and leveraging private investments. All the while, ECGRA’s Youth & Education grantees provide skills and job training for youth and displaced workers, connecting them with the Erie County, Pa. employers who need qualified employees most.

Whether you make Erie your home or vacation destination, Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority impact investments and grants have improved something you love in Erie County, Pa.

2011

In 2011, economic development practitioner Perry Wood was hired by the ECGRA board of directors to serve as ECGRA executive director. Wood was charged with innovating and bringing to fruition a framework that uses gaming funds for impact investments in Erie County.

Following the lead of respected foundations across the U.S., including The Rockefeller, George Gund, and F.B. Heron foundations, Wood and the board of directors adopted an Impact Investing Policy in 2014 and began making impact investments with gaming funds to drive social, cultural, and environmental change, as well as reap financial returns that help ensure Erie County’s gaming revenue gives back to local residents in perpetuity.

Today, ECGRA is making impact investments in five key areas:

Quality of Place
Municipalities
Youth & Education
Small Business
Neighborhoods & Communities

2016

As of June 2016, ECGRA has made over $40 million in impact investments in 178 nonprofit organizations, small business lenders, and educational entities. Those gaming funds help empower Erie County nonprofits, boost the Erie County, Pa. economy, and inspire Erie residents and hundreds of thousands of tourists—one dollar at a time and all thanks to Erie County gaming revenue.

Have questions? Contact us.

Interested in learning more? View the 2015-16 ECGRA annual report here.

Looking for ECGRA grant money? Find out what ECGRA grants are available.

2019

In March 2017, ECGRA and Team Erie County hosts the Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee to express the need to keep local share gaming revenue whole to continue to maintain local control of the funds for the purpose of economic development in Erie County. In October 2017, the Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee votes to keep local share gaming whole.

In 2018, ECGRA institutes two new programs, the Renaissance Block Program (based on a model from Jamestown, NY) and the Anchor Building Program in an effort to help prevent properties from becoming blighted. This is in conjunction with $1 million of the ECGRA portion of gaming funds being given to start operation of an Erie County Land Bank.

2020

As the COVID-19 crisis wreaked havoc on communities and small businesses across the country, ECGRA was recognized by Drexel University Nowak Metro Finance lab as a “First Mover” in the nation. Erie County’s swift response was profiled as a model public-entity fund to reduce the impact of the enormous economic tsunami at hand.

Announced on March 17, 2020, just days after Pennsylvania public schools were closed and health officials ordered restaurants and small businesses closed as part of mitigation efforts, the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) partnered with the Erie County council to create a three-pronged relief program, the Erie County COVID-19 Response Fund. The three components were:

Immediate Human Relief
Nonprofit Loan Fund
Small Business Loan Fund

The Immediate Human Relief Fund was established to offer urgent relief to the populations served by food pantries, homeless shelters, childcare centers, and elder care centers. The first grant, which launched the fund, awarded $168,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank and supported 6,000 meals to be distributed throughout Erie County. A total of $708,794 was awarded to additional organizations.

The Nonprofit Loan Fund and Small Business Loan Fund included $1.6 million that helped meet the rising needs of small businesses and nonprofits. The loans, administered through Bridgeway Capital, included flexible payment schedules and closed on 26 loans in just seven weeks.

2022

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 was a federal relief package providing $1.9 trillion in funding, program changes, and tax policies aimed at mitigating the continuing effects of the COVID-19 public health crisis. As a result of this historic legislation, Erie County received a federal grant of $52,391,502 from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF). Erie County devoted these funds to a program called Building a Better Future, from which ECGRA received $4 million from the Erie County Council to fund transformative projects throughout Erie County. ECGRA developed a three-pronged approach for the Building a Better Future Transformative Grant Program:

Entrepreneurship
Quality of Place
Community Facilities

Building Better Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Small Business, also known as economic gardening, is a relatively low-cost, high-yield activity that creates jobs, fills vacant storefronts, and builds wealth. ECGRA specifically supported projects and programs designed to improve technical assistance for entrepreneurs and small businesses with an emphasis on those groups that were severely impacted by the pandemic to build a stronger, more equitable economy. This category was funded in the amount of $1,526,750.00.

Building Better Quality of Place used existing community plans that included goals for promoting the reduction of blight, improving public spaces, strengthening neighborhoods and commercial corridors, and providing support for parks and recreation. Investments in these places in Erie County were proven successful as they were driven by strong, inclusive grassroots efforts with missions focused on community and neighborhood revitalization. This category was funded in the amount of $2,713,442.00.

Building Better Community Facilities was designed to support improvements to buildings that are designed to jointly and directly enable work, education, and health monitoring. These community facilities included community centers, family support centers, missions and food pantries, job training facilities, youth development and/or after-school programs, among other buildings, because they not only improve the quality of life but also assist in the development and sustainability of Erie County. This category was funded in the amount of $1,148,152.00.

2025

ECGRA was once again awarded ARPA funds from Erie County Council in the amount of $2.5 million to stabilize and improve the early childhood learning and daycare industry throughout Erie County. This decision was made as childcare centers were closing and the number of facilities without access to essential services grew.

ECGRA partnered with a vast network of nonprofits and small businesses engaged in community development, job creation, wealth building, local business growth, and strategic projects to develop a three-pronged approach to stabilize and develop the childcare industry. The three prongs are:

Stabilizing the Workforce
Incentivizing Facility Expansions
New Facility Construction

Stabilizing the Workforce was funded in two rounds of Educator Retention Awards. Erie County was experiencing historic shortages of early-learning educators, exacerbated by low wages. The Educator Retention Awards are intended to assist providers in establishing a stable workforce as they work toward higher levels of quality by reducing turnover and improving the education of teaching staff. The two rounds of funding in this category saw $1,526,340.00 went to deserving employees who provide teaching and care for Erie County’s children.

Incentivizing Facility Expansions provided facilities that were either underutilized or in need of expansion an opportunity to apply for funds to update their facilities to accommodate additional childcare slots. It was estimated that the number of children served prior to this grant was 848 and that the number of new childcare slots would increase by an additional 676. This category of funding was $995,538.00.

New Facility Construction was designed to address the data that shows that all of Erie County is a childcare desert. There is a need for additional facilities to meet the demand of working parents who need child care. The funding for this category will be from ECGRA’s reserves to match the Erie County ARPA funds for childcare.

An impact investing organization, ECGRA's mission is to empower the nonprofit sector, municipal governments, and economic development agencies to revitalize Erie County. ECGRA is endowed with local share gaming revenue from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania via the Horse Race Gaming Act. Local share gaming revenue is an assessment of the licensed gambling industry in Pennsylvania.

ECGRA's History