{"id":104948,"date":"2026-02-04T14:56:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T14:56:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/104948\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T14:56:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T14:56:39","slug":"gov-josh-shapiro-praises-erie-twice-in-budget-speech-what-they-were","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/104948\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Josh Shapiro praises Erie twice in budget speech. What they were"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro gave Erie a shout-out. Twice.<\/p>\n

The governor spotlighted both the city and the county during his fourth state budget proposal<\/a> Feb. 3 in Harrisburg, praising a local youth mentoring program and entrepreneurs driving economic growth \u2014 proof, he said, that state funding can make a real difference in communities across the commonwealth.<\/p>\n

Shapiro highlights Erie\u2019s Police Athletic League<\/p>\n

Shapiro recognized Capt. Tom Lenox of the Erie Bureau of Police<\/a> for his work mentoring local youth through Erie\u2019s Police Athletic League.<\/p>\n

\u201cCapt. Tom Lenox leads Erie\u2019s Police Athletic League, where he helps coach and mentor 1,700 young people from the community,\u201d Shapiro said. \u201cHe gets to know these kids and is a real source of inspiration for them. We need more of that in our Commonwealth.”<\/p>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro made his 2026-27 budget proposal before the General Assembly at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

The governor tied Lenox\u2019s work to broader state initiatives, highlighting the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency,<\/a> led by Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, which has directed $97 million to Erie\u2019s PAL and other violence prevention programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s working. We\u2019ve more than doubled state funding for these initiatives,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n

\"Capt.<\/p>\n

Capt. Tom Lenox of the Erie Bureau of Police looks on as Gov. Josh Shapiro made his 2026-27 budget proposal before the General Assembly at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 3.<\/p>\n

Erie’s PAL has grown in less than a decade from 35 students and six officers at one school to 1,700 children and 120 officers at 27 locations around the city.<\/p>\n

More on Shapiro address: Gov. Shapiro proposes $53.26 billion budget, draws on rainy-day fund<\/a><\/p>\n

The city of Erie highlighted Shapiro’s recognition of Lenox on its Facebook page<\/a>, calling it “a special moment.”<\/p>\n

Lenox attended Shapiro’s Feb. 3 address.<\/p>\n

Troyers hailed for job growth<\/p>\n

As he shifted from public safety to economic growth, Shapiro recognized a family business in Erie County that he said reflects the state\u2019s recent job gains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Erie County, where Colton and Zack Troyer \u2014 fourth-generation potato farmers \u2014 are developing a new brand of organic potato products and creating 50 local manufacturing jobs,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n

\"Zachary<\/p>\n

Zachary Troyer, left, Co-Founder of Folkland Foods talks with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro during a tour to announce a major investment in the organic french-fry plant in Waterford Township on Oct. 23, 2024. Shapiro praised the Troyers for their job growth during his budget address on Feb. 3.<\/p>\n

Shapiro cited the Troyers while outlining what he described as record levels of job creation and private investment under his administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a testament to all of us coming together and prioritizing economic development,\u201d Shapiro said, crediting the leadership of Secretary Rick Siger, who leads the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Troyers win grant: Troyer Growers wins $3 million state grant for organic french fries. How it will be used<\/a><\/p>\n

Shapiro has previously highlighted the Troyers\u2019 business<\/a>, Folkland Foods, an organic frozen french fry company in Waterford Township. The $7 million project, supported by a $3 million state grant, is expected to create up to 50 local manufacturing jobs.<\/p>\n

The Troyers are a fourth-generation farming family<\/a> and among Pennsylvania\u2019s largest potato growers, best known locally for Troyer Farms, the snack food company the family operated for decades.<\/p>\n

Local officials attend address<\/p>\n

Local officials who attended the address included Erie County Executive Christina Vogel; Erie Mayor Daria Devlin; Reps. Bob Merski, Patrick Harkins and Ryan Bizzarro; Captain Tom Lenox; Kim Thomas, executive director of Infinite Erie; Brandon Mendoza, president and CEO of the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership; and Tim NeCastro, president and CEO of Erie Insurance.<\/p>\n

Contact A.J. Rao at\u00a0arao@gannett.com<\/a>\u00a0or 814-440-5080.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie gets double mention in Shapiro\u2019s budget address. What did he say?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro gave Erie a shout-out. Twice. The governor spotlighted both the city and the county…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,21583,142,138,1713,137,50550,33,50552,50551,50549],"class_list":["post-104948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-bureau-of-police","tag-erie-county","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-insurance","tag-erie-news","tag-eries-police-athletic-league","tag-josh-shapiro","tag-lenox","tag-police-athletic-league","tag-tom-lenox"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}