JWA Successes
JWA success is reflected in the strategic implementation of a number of public communications campaigns and special projects on behalf of clients. Here are some of those success stories of case studies that were conceptualized, planned and implemented by JWA and its clients.
Henry County Water
2007 Public Education Program of the Year
In 2007, thanks in part to the research, planning, programming, and consultation provided by JWA, the Henry County Water & Sewerage Authority (HCWSA) won the Public Education Program of the Year award from the Georgia Association of Water Professionals (GAWP). This award was judged by county and municipal industry professional from jurisdictions in neighboring states, and the HCWSA outperformed all of the large municipal systems in Georgia, including those of greater Atlanta, for the honor. The four criteria of the public education award included: planning, program ideas, communication strategies, and collaboration with other organizations and jurisdictions.
Macon Water Authority
Grease Education
From 2004 – 2006, JWA conducted a series of research projects for the Macon Water Authority (MWA), in order to obtain feedback from customers on their media consumption patterns and opinions concerning several issues, most notably attitudes and beliefs regarding household grease disposal.
Since household grease was attributed to over half of the sewer spills and overflows in Macon/Bibb County, the MWA wanted to implement a public education program to lessen this impact on the system. The research findings from our study have helped verify the most effective communication tools for use by JWA in the Authority’s public education campaign. Coupled with other operational changes at the MWA, the campaign resulted in a significant reduction in sanitary sewer spills and overflows over the last three years. The MWA has twice been selected the Collection System of the Year in the state of Georgia as well, further reflecting the effectiveness of public education in addressing serious issues, those environmental and operational, of a public water utility.
Housing Authority of Clayton County
2009 Award of Merit
Entering 2005, the Housing Authority of Clayton County’s (HACC) Advantages Apartment complex was in structural and financial decline. “The Advantages” were not just another of the dozens of multi-family housing projects that the HACC had funded or facilitated. It was the Authority’s own property and primary source of revenue, necessary to fund the majority of its local housing rehabilitation programs, such as its own Alternative Housing Funding Program, its Housing Urgency Grant (HUG) program, its Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program (PILOT), partnerships in education and others. In short, if the revenues of The Advantages Apartments (now Premier Garden) dried up, so too would local HACC programming.
As a result, the HACC initiated its Premier Garden Apartment Homes rehabilitation, renaming, and rebranding program, to improve the property’s management, quality of life, revenues, and marketability. Prior to initiating the program in the spring of 2005, the HACC formed a Facilities Holding Company to determine policies; hired a new property management company to oversee operations; changed the name of the development from “The Advantages” to “Premier Garden Apartments”; and refinanced the property to obtain a much favorable interest rate and free up $2 million in cash for capital projects, rehabilitation, and deferred maintenance. Finally, through the professional services of JWA, the HACC documented and promoted the entire Phase I and Phase II of renovations at the complex (external structures, infrastructure and buildings of the facility) and within its units (interior of apartment homes), respectively.
The current economic and social indicators of its success are undeniable and evident, as occupancy rose to an all-time high of 98% in 2009, with cash flows and profitability better than at any other time of the development’s history. As a result of the project and promotional success of Premier Garden, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) awarded the Housing Authority of Clayton County its 2009 Award of Merit for Program Innovation in Affordable Housing.
The purpose of the Award of Merit is to give national recognition to the achievement and innovation of NAHRO agency members, such as the HACC, throughout the country; to provide additional opportunities to inform the public of the best in housing and community development; and to create a resource bank of information on significant, innovative activities performed by housing and redevelopment agencies and community development departments. Information from award recipients such as the HACC also is used by NAHRO to support its positions at HUD and to lobby the U.S. Congress.
Clayton County Foreclosure Resource Center
Foreclosure Prevention and Intervention
In response to the growing number of foreclosures in its community, the Housing Authority of Clayton County (HACC) led the efforts of a local collaboration to form the Clayton County Foreclosure Resource Center (CCFRC). As the lead agency funding this partnership, the HACC joined forces with HUD-approved counseling agencies, including Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta (CCCS) and D&E, A Financial Education and Training Institute, Inc., as well as Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity, the Metro South Association of REALTORS®, Higher Living Community Impact Center, Inc., and others, to create Foreclosure Prevention and Intervention Programs through the CCFRC.
The CCFRC alliance of collective, comprehensive professional services provides local residents in need with free financial assistance targeting foreclosure prevention, including: education about options available through lenders; alternative repayment plans on delinquent mortgages; negotiation for changes that can be made to the terms of loans; and other alternatives for which homeowners may be eligible. In addition to its foreclosure prevention (pre-foreclosure) initiatives, the CCFRC also has foreclosure intervention (post-foreclosure) programming, including a delinquent mortgage payment plan and a neighborhood recovery program focused on rehabilitating foreclosed homes and getting them back on the market.
JWA was instrumental in raising awareness of and participation in the foreclosure prevention and intervention efforts of the CCFRC, through community workshops and educational events, direct mailings to those residents entering foreclosure, news releases and features on agency and program milestones, advertising in local media, as well as the construction of a Web site and hotline for public access to all programming information of the CCFRC.
Since founding the CCFRC in October of 2008, and promoting its programs and services with the help of JWA, the HACC and CCFRC have noted that the number of homeowners seeking financial and foreclosure assistance from their partnering counseling agencies has increased, as it appears the ultimate goal of reducing the number of foreclosures in the community will be achieved.
PURE Oil Jobbers Cooperative, Inc.
The National Brand of “Be Sure With Pure”
The origin of PURE dates back to 1914, with the founding of the Ohio Cities Gas Company. Six years later, the company name changed to PURE Oil, eventually moving its headquarters to Chicago.
By the 1960’s, annual sales had grown to $700 million, as PURE Oil ranked among the 100 largest industrial corporations in the United States. The growth of the PURE brand during the 50’s and 60’s, especially in the Southeast, coincided with the growth in popularity of stockcar racing, as PURE was one of the more visible petroleum brands for the sport during this time.
In 1965, Union Oil Company of California (Unocal) purchased PURE Oil and converted all of the PURE branded sites to Union 76. When Unocal announced it was pulling out of the Southeast in 1992, it provided an opportunity for the purchase and resurrection of the PURE brand and Firebird trademark by a group of independent petroleum marketers.
So, in 1993, following the negotiations between Unocal and the oil jobbers it left behind in this region, the Southeastern Oil Jobbers Cooperative, Inc. (SOJC) was born. The SOJC consisted primarily of smaller operators who established a true cooperative “of marketers, by marketers, for marketers.”
During this time when the Co-op was forming to take over the PURE brand, Unocal commissioned a market study to obtain an indication of public awareness and brand equity of the PURE name. Those results revealed that 54 percent of respondents were familiar with the PURE label, proving the brand had marketable strength, even though Unocal had not utilized or promoted it in several decades.
By 2008, to celebrate the 15th year anniversary of its founding, the Co-op changed its name to the PURE Oil Jobbers Cooperative, Inc. and began an aggressive marketing campaign, with the help of JWA, to expand the PURE brand outside of the 10 Southeastern states of its original membership. The Co-op owns the rights to the PURE brand in all 50 states, and its current marketing campaign, directed by JWA, involves expansion of the brand and Co-op membership into 13 new states, while continuing communication in the existing 10 Southeastern states where the Co-op was founded.
Today, the PURE Oil Jobbers Cooperative, Inc. (POJC) has approximately 340 members, pulling in excel of 50 million gallons of petroleum products monthly from various suppliers, with plans to grow that volume to more than 100 million gallons monthly over the next few years.
Critical to the future success of the PURE Co-op’s business plan and growth strategy is the marketing communications plan devised by JWA, which includes promoting Co-op benefits and raising PURE brand awareness through the organization’s Web site, brochure, newsletters, news coverage, special events, and advertising in both national trade publications and media of state industry associations in the targeted regions.