PR Counsel and Strategy Development
Public input identifies solution for facility adjacent to state park
Situation: Emmetsburg Community Development Corporation (ECDC), the economic development agency for City of Emmetsburg (Iowa), in 2009 retained Hanser & Associates – and our Des Moines-based partners, TPG Companies, Inc. for financial feasibility and RDG Planning & Design for architectural planning – to produce a feasibility study and actionable plan regarding the outdated clubhouse/community center [...]
Super PR for super-park
Situation: The State of Iowa’s legislature and Department of Natural Resources set public policy in 1999 to develop a “Super-park,” a publicly owned year-round resort facility to be operated by a private management company. Centerville, Iowa-based CVRC&D, the local economic development agency in Southern Iowa on the shores of 11,000-acre Lake Rathbun, needed to build [...]
Managing PR for hotel industry management
Situation: Sioux Falls, SD-based Regency Hotel Management Company & its affiliates own more than 60 properties in 21 states, and Hotel Business magazine has consistently ranked Regency as one of the Top 100 Management Companies. Regency was formed in 1965, has more than 6,000 employees, and operates under various franchises, including Starwood, Radisson, Marriott, ClubHouse, [...]
Institutional rebranding via engagement and conversation
Situation: Upper Iowa University (UIU), founded in 1857, is a Fayette, Iowa-based private university providing undergraduate and graduate degrees to 6,000 students at campuses and centers worldwide. UIU in 2005 hired a new president and wanted to build its brand and increase enrollment. UIU sought a public relations firm to help them get closer to [...]
Express bus service builds explosive sales and profitability
Situation: Paramus, N.J.-based Coach USA, a subsidiary of UK-based Stagecoach Group, selected Hanser & Associates in 2005 to launch Chicago-based megabus.com, the first company in North America to offer intercity express bus service with fares as low as $1 via the Internet. Megabus.com launched service in March 2006 from its Chicago hub and seven other [...]
Building public consensus regarding health priorities
Situation: Polk County Health Department is charged with delivering public health services in Iowa’s most populous county and implementing health improvement programs as defined in an ambitious ten-year plan. Elected officials and Department management were charged in 2008 to create a new road map – Healthy Polk 2020 – to identify future health priorities while [...]
Hospital mergers improve profitability
Situation: Catholic Health System, a five-hospital healthcare-provider network in Western New York, was under significant financial distress in 1998. Shrinking Medicare reimbursements coupled with shorter patient stays and fewer overnight admissions due to new technologies and therapies had put Buffalo, NY-based CHS at a crossroads. Management at CHS decided to “retask” three hospitals – providing [...]
PR transforms University division into fee-based enterprise
Situation: Strategic Marketing Services (SMS), a unit of the Cedar Falls, Iowa-based University of Northern’s Iowa College of Business in 1997 found it necessary to move from a federal grant-funded organization to a fee-based enterprise. SMS’ client base for its market research services was Iowa manufacturing companies. Having very little time to make this transition [...]
Public input supports community/performing arts center
Situation: Hanser & Associates was retained in 2004-2005 to manage the overall process of forming an advisory committee and supporting all of the work of the committee – to assess the feasibility of a Community Center and Performing Arts Center that would be jointly operated by the City of West Des Moines and West Des [...]
International media relations drives record sales and profits
Situation: Scottsdale, Ariz.-based RSC Equipment Rental, the leading provider of equipment rental services for the construction, industrial/petrochemical, manufacturing and government sectors in the United States, Canada and Mexico, sought to increase awareness of the benefits of rental equipment vs. ownership. PR Action: Hanser & Associates created an international media relations program targeting national trade and [...]