Chris Groner

Chris Groner is the Director of the Office of Development Finance for the City of Erie. He is responsible for managing the public financing tools for economic and community development projects in the city. That includes multiple gap financing revolving loan funds, infrastructure and industrial development funds, city and state grant resources, the city’s American Rescue Plan funds and the city’s enterprise and opportunity zones. In addition to assisting businesses with their financing needs, he is responsible for identifying gaps in the system and finding solutions to meet the needs of the business community.

Prior to his current position, Chris served as Director of the Department of Economic and Community Development for the City of Erie. His duties included managing city economic, infrastructure, and housing development funds, administering the city’s LERTA tax abatement program, and overseeing the city’s annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocation. He also served as the Vice President of Capital Finance and Lending for the Erie County Redevelopment Authority where he managed township business and industrial development funds, USDA financing, a CDFI that serves multiple counties in the region and the various county enterprise zones.

Chris holds a BS in finance from Penn State Behrend.