Phil Kerner is a born-and-raised Erie, Pa native…

After attending both Catholic and public schools in Erie, Phil established two manufacturing businesses, Kerner & Tool & Die as well as Endeavor Mold & Design. Both of these businesses eventually closed due to extreme competition pressures from both Mexico and China.

Phil would eventually create Erie’s first “business networking” organization with his wife Heidi Parr Kerner, originally called Erie Power Networking. EPN later became known as The Erie Small Business Alliance, bringing over 100 local business owners together every month for networking, referrals, and training. The ESBA was sold after 4 years to Erie business woman Donna Reese in 2009.

During that time, the ESBA hosted their own radio program on local radio station WFNN 1330 AM, as well as published three editions of the organization’s own magazine which was made free to the public and featured stories about local business owners and their companies. Along with several training sessions per year, the ESBA featured some outstanding guest speakers, including referrals specialist and nationally known speaker Bob Burg and SBTV.com’s CEO Susan Wilson Solovic.