TAKING CONTROL OF THE NARRATIVE
Oftentimes when a business comes to a PR agency, it is because there’s a controversy or a crisis. This was the case for Alpenglow Timber, a locally-owned company that had come up with a creative solution to perhaps the biggest issue facing our region – the health of our forests. After years of working to thin the woods around Tahoe owner, David Mercer, ran into a problem – there was nowhere to bring the small diameter logs that he pulled from the forests.
He bought about 120 acres of property that was zoned for forestry management and began planning a small scale, innovative sawmill that would solve this problem. But a small group of neighbors in the area wanted to stop him from building and they had resorted to fear tactics to get what they wanted.
East River PR helped Mercer take back control of the narrative. First we organized a group of high profile supporters in the region to speak on his behalf and write letters to the planning commission. These were high-ranking forestry and fire officials who knew the importance of this project, as well as local business leaders who saw the benefit to our economy. We helped sharpen the company website by adding a FAQs page that separated the facts from fiction surrounding the project.
During the course of our work with the client, a local paper published an article that was filled with misinformation from the neighborhood group. We used our relationships with the editor to have the article taken down. We then worked together to share the real facts of the story and connect the reporter with our client, as well as other key stakeholders in the region willing to go on record in support of the project.
We also acted as trusted advisors and consultants to help the Alpenglow team prepare their presentation to the Planning Commission. The result was a unanimous 5-0 decision at the county planning commission hearing, and another 5-0 decision at the subsequent county supervisors hearing following an appeal.
TESTIMONIAL
“In the end the project will benefit the entire community and its neighbors by allowing us to scale up forest management in the region. Sierra Business Council strongly supports the proposed Alpenglow project and encourages residents to read the environmental documentation and comment in favor of granting a use permit to the Alpenglow facility.”
-Steve Frisch, President and CEO of Sierra Business Council. In an Op-Ed to the Sierra Sun voicing his support