May
2
2023

Land Bank Wields PR in Push for Brownfield Funds

Posted in Recent Work
WKBN-TV reporter Megan Lee (right) interviews property owner and MAC Trailer CEO Michael Conny. 

The Mahoning County Land Bank recently generated heavy publicity with a news conference focused on the cleanup of a troublesome industrial brownfield.

Perhaps more importantly, the development catalyst drew a spotlight on a monster government funding program it would like to see extended. 

“Ohio’s brownfield initiative provided nearly $1.5 million to clean up the Royal China site, and the community – and the state – need to see that those dollars are being put to very good use and are highly appreciated,” said Debora Flora, executive director of the Land Bank.

“In fact, if the state keeps those brownfield dollars coming, we’re going to see a lot more contaminated industrial sites revitalized. That’s a great return on those dollars, and that’s the message we want to keep getting across.”

The Land Bank worked closely with Pecchia Communications, its public relations counsel for more than five years, on the March 20 news conference at a fire hall across the street from the 26-acre lead-laden site in Sebring.

The Importance of Brownfield Funding 

The grant for this project was among $350 million Ohio budgeted for 2022-23 to clean up brownfields – contaminated sites that require expensive remediation before they can be redeveloped. Ohio is full of such sites, and many of them are in the Mahoning Valley, where a long history of manufacturing began decades before modern environmental protection laws were enacted. 

Flora and Land Bank Chairman Daniel R. Yemma are among those pushing for that funding to be renewed so the Valley and other parts of Ohio can compete with Southern states luring new factories with greenfield properties. 

The two draws for the news conference were a lineup of prominent speakers and news that the first visible sign of remediation work – delineation testing – was starting. Two reporters said the ongoing hazardous waste cleanup in East Palestine after a train derailment juiced interest in the Sebring event. 

In addition to the Land Bank leaders, the speakers at the conference included State Sen. Michael Rulli (R-Salem), State Rep. Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown), Sebring Mayor James J.  Harp and Mahoning County Commissioner David C. Ditzler. 

Also speaking was Michael Conny, the Sebring native and MAC Trailer CEO who had largely avoided media attention before this event, and Jim Smith, president of Brownfield Restoration Group, the consultant leading the cleanup work. 

Debora Flora (right), Land Bank executive director, chats with Repository writer Benjamin Duer while Roger Smith of the Land Bank photo-bombs. 

Here’s a list of the print and broadcast stories generated by the news conference: 

Advice for Planning a News Conference

Dan Pecchia, president of Pecchia Communications, offered this advice for staging news conferences.

1. Make sure there’s news. This might seem obvious, but we’re often surprised by the news-less fodder ladled out at some news confabs. Reporters spend considerable time prepping for, attending and following up on news conferences, so we don’t like to call them unless the news value is high.  

2. Advance notice. Two or three days is fine. We like holding these in late morning, before the early TV crews leave for the day. This prevents the morning papers from being first, but it leaves them enough time to dig deeper than the broadcast media do. 

3. Have decent relationships with media pros. News conference invites get more attention from organizations with a reputation for approaching media with legitimate news. 

4. Prepare the speakers. When there are multiple speakers, it’s good to have talking points. This can make sure all key messages are covered; it also cuts the risk of everyone saying the same thing. 

5. Invite a crowd. You never know if media are going to show up, because breaking news can divert them. Invite supporters to make sure there are people in the seats.

6. Prepare handouts. At least have something in writing to make sure media pros (especially newbies) can get the right spelling of the speakers’ names. Another plus is a news release written like a reporter would write it (not like many PR firms would). 

7. Plan for a “rainy day.” In addition to newsy, fluff-less news releases, we like to provide B-roll video after news conferences as a service to media pros who like the story but can’t attend the event. No-shows don’t need to mean no coverage. 

If you need any help building media interest around an important achievement or milestone, feel free to contact us here.

Sean Barron (left), Vindicator reporter, chats with Jim Smith, CEO of Brownfield Restoration Group, one of the firms involved in the Royal China site cleanup.