Nuclear power plants and chemical factories have always had it rough in terms of community relations. But execs at power plants and chemical manufacturers - not to mention
formerly non-threatening companies like media organizations and water reservoirs - have ramped up their community relations efforts, in the wake of recent threats of terrorist
attacks. The lessons they've learned in communicating to local stakeholders in times of crisis are lessons that would serve any PR pro well.
For the nuke plants and chemical factories that have long struggled with local fears of contamination, this is just another verse in an old tune. For others, though, Sept. 11
opened up a whole new can of worms. "A lot of our facilities are very visible," says Barbara Crow, public information manager for the Louisville Water Co., which serves some
800,000 Kentucky residents. "People picnic and walk their dogs at our reservoirs. After Sept. 11, all of a sudden people saw gates locked. They saw armed guards 24 hours a day. We
had to do a lot of communicating with people who felt like these facilities were part of their neighborhoods."
At the Louisville Water Co., as elsewhere, the community relations task is complicated further by the need to allay fears without revealing sensitive security information. "The
idea is to say that we have always had good security, to say that we are on heightened security - but to not go into what that means," Sasada explains. Communications pros are
finding themselves opening new lines of communications with their corporate security teams in an effort to learn what they can and cannot share with the public.
Crow has responded with "a mass communications blitz," as she describes it. Utility executives have met with community groups and sent letters to all local civic organizations.
They also have preached the gospel of safety to the local media. "We need to let folks know that water utilities in general have many, many controls in place. There is nothing
else you eat or drink that is more heavily monitored than your tap water.
Community Relations Begin At Home
Some industries have had a head start on this type of communications. A few years ago, the government told the chemical industry to disclose its worst-case scenarios:
everything that could possibly go wrong, and possible responses. "We went through all the angst at that time. As a result, I am not seeing a whole lot more awareness at this time
because we have already gone through that process," says Tom Howell, principal with New West, a Weber Shandwick affiliate in Louisville, Ky., which represents a number of
chemical industry clients.
Still, some things have changed. "We have added more information about the security of the facility" into the community relations mix, says Charlie Domalik, who also works with
the chemical industry as VP of Carter Ryley Thomas Public Relations in Richmond, Va. "Now we are busy reassuring the public that you cannot just walk into one of these
facilities."
In some ways, Sept. 11 has been a boon to PR professionals in the most sensitive industries, insofar as it has put communications back at the top of the agenda. "When you talk
[to utility executives] now about the need for developing crisis communication plans, you get time on the senior executive's schedule, rather than being told to wait until after
the first of the year," says Howell. "People are paying a lot more attention to the planning process, which has helped us in efforts to forge relationships with the community and
with the media."
Howell has seized the opportunity, urging his clients to refresh their media contacts and, to ensure that internal communications processes are working well. "The last thing
you want is for one of your employees to be out there not knowing what the company is doing," he says. "You want to be sure that the folks who work in the facility have the best
information possible. That is where community relations begins."
The nuclear industry also has been emphasizing internal communications as a front line effort for community relations. Sharon Sasada, senior communications representative for
Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group, which operates two nuclear power plants, has sent numerous internal memos reminding people about security procedures and updating them
about existing security policies. Such communication is "extremely important," she says, not just because it helps reassure employees, "but also because they pass that on to other
people" outside the plants.
Lost Access
For many in sensitive industries, though, the biggest change since Sept. 11 has been the lockdown of facilities once open to the public.
"Before Sept. 11, if somebody wanted a tour of one of our plants, we could usually set something up," says Sasada. "A really important learning tool has now been limited," says
Maureen Brown, communications director for Wisconsin-based Nuclear Management Company, which operates six plants in four states. With school tours on hold, "it has required us to
be more proactive in terms of speaking in the schools."
While Brown has taken her message straight to the people, others have focused their efforts on third parties. "A lot of local legislators have been to our plants and we have
given them information" about new security measures, says Sasada. "They filter that information down to their constituents in the general public."
Some say the most direct route to community relations in the post-9/11 world is by breaking through media predisposition to focus on the negative. Brown cites a recent front-
page story in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press in which top state officials expressed confidence in the state's nuclear plants. "But those statements were buried 12 paragraphs into
the story," she says. "The story led with comments from an unknown university professor saying: 'Well, I am concerned.'"
(Contacts: Charlie Domalik, 804/675-8133, [email protected]; Tom Howell, 502/891-2528, [email protected]; Sharon Sasada, 410/ 234-7433, [email protected]; Maureen Brown, 715/377-3320, [email protected]; Barbara Crow, 502/569-3695, [email protected])
Up To Speed
In the wake of 9/11, the Louisville Water Company did a major communications reassessment, to respond to immediate information needs and lay the groundwork for future
crises.
- PR leaders at the utility updated their media contacts in order to ensure that they could reach the right people in case of emergency and that reporters knew where to find
them. - The team conducted one-on-one meetings with representatives of all the local media outlets to talk about communications protocols in case of emergency.
- They beefed up the utility's Web site and launched an aggressive campaign of in-school visits by company executives.
- Finally, the PR team conducted a major re-assessment to ensure that all the utility's emergency plans included substantial communications components.
Bristol-Myers Squibb's PR Boon
One pharmaceutical company isn't foolin' around when it comes to security. Communities surrounding the Bristol-Myers Squibb headquarters in New York can rest assured that
security is in the hands of an expert.
BMS hired Tom Pickard, deputy director of the FBI and the No. 2 guy at the bureau throughout the aftermath of Sept. 11 and the USS Cole bombing, to serve as its head of
corporate security.