Aggregates Manager Sta, June 1, 2013

Changing Adversaries into Allies

(http://www.aggman.com/9les/2013/05/community-supportUntitled-1.gif)Thepermitting process can be contentious, but long term community outreach andinvolvement can build better relationships.

By Christopher Hopkins

Getting a quarry expansion or a new green<eld site approved through the local permitting process

can be a grind. It will likely be contentious, volatile, and at the end of the day, regardless of the

outcome, there will be some hard feelings on both sides of the argument. After all that, when I tell

clients, “it wasn’t personal, it was only business,” they sometimes look at me as if I have insulted their

mother.

Well, it isn’t personal; it is only business for the most part on both sides. You have to remember that,

for the vast majority of Americans, their home is the largest investment they will ever have, and any

perceived threat to that asset will spur them to action. The average person has no idea what an

aggregate quarry is, how it operates, or what the product is used for. And they de<nitely have very

little reason to trust the large company “ramming it into their backyards.”

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Creating community goodwill

garners long-term results,

but requires a long-term

perspective. Short-term

e,orts are easily seen for

what they are.

(http://www.aggman.com/<les/2013/05/earth-

dayUntitled-1.gif)

Earth Day is a great opportunity to

showcase your plant, and industry,

to the public.

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The application process on the local, state, and federal levels has

become a political process. Decisionmakers want to get re-elected or

re-appointed to their positions, so political dynamics make it far

more likely that a board of county commissioners will vote to please

a roomful of angry voters demanding that a project be denied, rather

than defy their constituents — even if those citizens have been riled

by misinformation spread in a misguided iyer.

The vast amounts of readily available information on the internet —

true or not — adds to the peril. If you are a nationwide company, any

past problems at your plant in Bangor, Maine, will be raised as an

issue by opponents during a public hearing on your project in Little

Rock, Ark. If you are a local company, information about the industry

and issues and violations involving other producers can and will be

used to attack your application.

Any resident with access to a copy machine and a computer can

distribute iyers saying that your new facility will be blasting away

the foundations of neighborhood homes, that dust will cause asthma,

and trucks will run over children. Whether it is true or not, people can

still put it out there. And I guarantee you that if they pass out a thousand of these iyers, 250 people

will show up to oppose you at the public hearing.

You actually can combat this, even if you cannot control the deeds of other producers or the industry

as a whole.

When you want to increase your quarry footprint or open a

new plant in a neighboring community, the local elected

o,icials and other decision makers usually want to approve

your project. The reason is simple: the new facility will bring

new jobs into the community for which they can take credit,

and you will increase the commercial tax base for the city or

county where you operate (and unlike a home, you will not be

placing children into the local school system). Overall, a new

facility is a win for the municipality.

But the decisionmakers are not going to like it enough to put

their political futures at risk.

In this day and age, simply dealing with the “power brokers” in

town does not get you approvals. You need to garner a trust

with the community — residents need to know you, and you

need to become part of local fabric. Trust is the most di,icult barrier to overcome when reaching out

to a neighborhood and natural opponents. Face it, they are inclined to not trust you, and the only way

to have them trust you is to demonstrate that the community is not just a place of business for you,

that this is your home as well, that you and your employees live here and want what is best for the

community. The only way to accomplish this requires time, e,ort, and communication. Simply writing

a check for sponsorship opportunities is not enough by itself. In fact, taking just that step is missing

an incredible opportunity.

Creating community goodwill garners

long-term results, but it is not a short-

term exercise relegated to the times you

need to expand your operation or some

other permit from the town or county.

Those short-term e,orts are easily seen

for what they are: an attempt to buy

approvals through gifts and mitigation. It

provides you with no goodwill and can

cause a backlash and resentment from

your would-be opponents. You will hear

comments such as, “They are trying to

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Consider sponsoring a Little League team and having an

employee coach it. This is one great way to build good

will with parents and local o,icials.

buy the new quarry,” or “The planning

board works for Acme Paving.” True or

not, it doesn’t play well among residents

or in the media.

The more e,ective way to conduct community outreach is to make sure your company and employees

become part of the community. This e,ort is going to take time and hard work. Some clients I’ve

worked with had already been participating in community activities, and some had not. Those who do

get involved <nd the goodwill they build can be a crucial bene<t when they need a demonstration of

public support.

One of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to become involved is through the local school system

— “adopting” a grade or two in a local school whose pupils come out once a year, parents and

teachers in tow, to tour your facility and play on the trucks and movers. It is a great way for your

company to be seen, and can even be enhanced by having your plant manager visit the classroom to

teach the students about construction materials and geology. Developing such a partnership will

introduce you to teachers, students, parents, and members of the school board. You will likely receive

public thanks from the town board, the school committee, or the local PTA.

International producer Cemex has found this very e,ective tool to use at its plants, according to

Cemex Community Relations Manager Jenna Register Emerson. “Many educators have come to bat

for us when we have needed them due to our extensive onsite education programs and partnerships,”

she says. “For example, we are working on permitting a new mine that has, what do you know,

received some pushback, and we are able to rely on these educators to send letters to the

commission supporting us and even have them show up to hearings and speak on their partnership

with Cemex.

“Most people are misinformed about our industry so by being active and taking an interest in

educating our communities this has helped us come out on top. You can turn people’s opinions

around just by giving them the right information,” she adds.

Remember that, in most instances, the increased tax revenues generated by your expansion or new

development will result in more resources for the local schools (and you can remind the teachers and

parents of this when meeting with them at the quarry or in the classroom).

Earth Day is always a great opportunity to showcase your plant and the industry to the public. Not

many people immediately equate our industry with being environmentally conscious, but simple

programs to commemorate Earth Day can go a long way. Some approaches that have been e,ective

in the past include volunteering a team of your employees to clean up a stretch of roadway, or having

a team conduct a tree planting exercise in town, preferably in a busy, visible location. When you do

this, your company name and logo should have a prominent placement, so passers by will know who

is doing the good work. This is also an excellent time to announce any environmental awards you

may have earned over the previous year, locally or through industry organizations. The press should

be invited; especially the local newspapers that need articles to <ll their pages. At a minimum, a press

release should be issued with a photo.

In some communities, we have had clients who align themselves with Little League baseball. They

sponsor a team, have an employee coach the team, and the company takes on the responsibility of

maintaining the <eld, which they can do easily enough with their sand, gravel, and other materials.

This has resulted in building goodwill with those large numbers of parents and local o,icials who are

involved with youth sports. The company banner can be placed in a prominent place during opening

day ceremonies to ensure the <rm’s contributions are noticed.

There are countless ways to become visibly involved in the community, and there are signi<cant

bene<ts to being seen as a good corporate neighbor. Each of the examples I have noted provides the

chance for your company to interact with the residents, discuss the industry, and, importantly, to

collect information about these potential supporters for future use — name, address, phone, and

email.

You should start by sending thank-you notes to those who attended the events, and this should form

the beginning of a database of recipients for a company or plant newsletter to provide the latest

information about the quarry and your operations. This will also be an opportunity for you to receive

feedback from the public about any issues they might be upset about. After time, when neighbors and

local residents see that they get answers to their questions or responses to their complaints, they will

contact you <rst rather than contacting a city councilor or the mayor. Even though you cannot always

give a resident the resolution that they want, just the fact that you are openly communicating with

them and creating that relationship will go a long way in being seen as a good corporate citizen.

The real bene<t gained from all these e,orts will come if and when you seek to expand your

operations, add a cement facility, or build an asphalt or ready-mix plant — either locally or in a

nearby community or county. With public hearings or public comment required for virtually every

permit or approval you seek, the database you’ve built now becomes indispensable. It is OK to send

out messages and to ask for support for your application from these people. After all, they

independent citizens who can testify about your good corporate citizenship and contributions to the

community in which you operate.

“All of the contributions, whether it through monetary support or volunteer e,orts, have helped with

local opposition with respect to permitting,” says Register Emerson. “It is much harder to oppose an

application when you have personally bene<ted from the local e,orts of a company.”

In the end, reaching out to your community is a positive. The e,ort engages us in conversation with

local residents and o,icials, and gives them a chance to explore our industry, which is not well

understood by the average person. Explaining what aggregates are used for, how the average person

depends on our product every day, how state-of-the-art all the science is, and how safe an industry

this is can go a long way when community support is needed to provide the political justi<cation for

local decision makers to vote ‘yes.’

Chris Hopkins is senior vice president for aggregates and mining at The Saint Consulting Group,

which specializes in building community support for controversial land use proposals.

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