Key Change

We're continuing to spotlight passionate and creative Pennsylvanians. You've probably never heard of ALIBI, a company based in Pipersville in Bucks County. But you've definitely heard their work — music featured in national ads for McDonald's, trailers for Top Gun Maverick and Stranger Things, and in the background of thousands of TV shows and video games. They have created a library of over 350,000 pieces of audio, available both to Fortune 500 companies and to upstart YouTubers alike.To learn more about this fascinating corner of the music industry and learn about how a company from Pennsylvania has become a leader in the space, we chatted with the founder Jonathan Parks.

In this episode, it's time to talk wine. Pennsylvania wine to be exact. Mario Mazza is a second-generation winemaker at Robert Mazza, Inc., an Erie County stalwart preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary. We chatted with Mario about his very special — and spectacularly beautiful — corner of the state, life in a family business, and how the local wine industry continues to evolve.

Key Change listeners: check out Prism, a new podcast series from Keystone Edge produced in partnership with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. The goal of these conversations is to shine a light on the power of creativity in PA communities. In this episode, we're talking about immigrants — artists who came from abroad to make Pennsylvania their home. Through their work, these two men are enriching their communities and adding to the commonwealth's bounty of public art.

The rural landscape known as the Pennsylvania Wilds covers approximately 25% of the state's land acreage, yet is home to just 4% of the population. The former lumber capital of the world boasts 29 state parks, eight state forests, two National Wild and Scenic Rivers, some of the darkest skies in the country, and the largest elk herd in the northeast. It is also home to hundreds of small businesses — both those you'd expect (outdoor recreation outfitters and woodworkers) and those that might surprise you, such as high tech manufacturing and artisanal printing. We spoke with Ta Enos, founder and CEO of The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship about her long relationship with the area, and how an exciting partnership with Ben Franklin Technology Partners provides an additional boost to local innovators.

In our latest episode, we spoke with Brandon “Brandy” Schimp, the recently re-elected mayor of Kane, PA, a charming town up in the PA Wilds — McKean County to be exact. In recent years, this historic hamlet and gateway to the Allegheny National Forest has garnered a lot of attention for its revitalized main street and passionate small business community. We chatted with Mayor Schimp about what drove her to run for office, the latest developments in Kane, and why the area's natural beauty remains its greatest asset.

Hazelwood Green is a new neighborhood rising from a 178 acre brownfield on the banks of the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh. Where once they made steel, the forces behind this massive mixed-use project hoped to foster innovation and collaboration, building out public spaces, bike lanes, transit, apartments, cutting-edge offices, retail, and waterfront recreation trails. Three years and one global pandemic later, we wanted an update. How have the plans evolved? Are they still on track? What's coming next? 

The conversation around how and particularly where we work has grown increasingly lively over the last few years. Remote work, co-working, digital nomads — all these terms entered the lexicon. Then the pandemic hit, and we became a work-from-home nation overnight. (I'll take a moment here to shout out the essential workers who didn't have that option and who continue to deserve our respect and gratitude.) Now, as offices reopen and our schedules fill back up with travel and social engagements, these questions — How? Where? For how long? — are back in a major way.

Last summer, we wrote a story in Keystone Edge about how that moment of reckoning had inspired folks across Pennsylvania to look closer to home — to buy from small farms, sign up for CSA shares, or reorient their purchasing priorities with a new emphasis putting dollars directly into the local economy. While reporting that story, we encountered Harvie, a company out of Pittsburgh, working for more than a decade at the intersection of technology and agriculture. As the spring growing season ramps up, we thought this was a perfect moment to get their thoughts on a tumultuous but ultimately fruitful time.

With this next guest, it’s impossible to delve into the last year without invoking a roller coaster — we’ve all been riding an emotional one, and might be itching to scream ourselves silly on a real one. Enter Waldameer Park & Water World, a 125-year-old amusement park on the shores of Lake Erie. Let’s hear from Vice President of Operations Brian Gorman about how this local institution (which, parents take note, offers free admission and free parking!) leaned into all the twists and turns 2020 had to offer, and how they’re feeling going into the 2021 season.

In this episode, we spoke with Tiffany Wilson, the new CEO of the University City Science Center in West Philadelphia. The Science Center has been around for almost 60 years, and the campus has grown into a powerful engine of growth through its work commercializing promising technologies, cultivating talent, and connecting like-minded folks, whether they be global leaders in tech or neighborhood kids hoping to hone their STEM skills. ​Wilson came on board in late summer 2020, stepping into a challenging role in a particularly challenging moment. Take a listen!

Today we chat with Daniel Egusquiza, executive director of Barrio Alegría in Reading, Pennsylvania. Pre-pandemic, the organization used arts programming and neighborhood cleanups to engage their local community. These days, they’re…well, using arts programming and neighborhood cleanups to engage their local community. But that doesn’t mean things haven’t changed. The group has been forced to adapt and modernize — and in the end, they hope to come out of the pandemic with even more arrows in their quiver.

In this episode, we chatted with Chelia Huettner and Nate Boring, two of the five partners behind Zoetropolis Cinema Stillhouse. In 2018, the team took a legacy art house theater in downtown Lancaster and transformed it into a combination movie house, restaurant and distillery. It was that last element of the business that helped keep them afloat during shutdowns, along with creative use of their outdoor space and a new delivery arm. Take a listen!

In our first episode, we chat with Derek Menaldino, co-owner of Manatawny Still Works. Keystone Edge profiled this craft distillery in June 2019, writing about their production facility in Pottstown, their taproom in South Philadelphia, and their careful approach to whiskey. Join us to hear what happened next.