Business Profile: The Hawthorne AgencyBy Cheryl Hentz
When you need an aggressive media relations campaign, a new look for your project’s website, a newsletter detailing the goals and progress of your organization, or even something as large as an aggressive public involvement campaign, you need a firm that has the versatility and talent to generate fresh ideas – whether it’s a new spin on a tried and true method, or something completely out of the box. You also need a firm that has a proven track record of meeting client objectives.
Many agencies can do some of these things; some agencies can do it all. But to do it, and do it well, takes a special agency that knows what you need to accomplish and how to get you there. The Hawthorne Agency is that kind of firm.
“Our strength is our ability to communicate messages to the community and to serve as a resource for that two-way exchange. Communication is always a two-way street and we’re able to keep our finger on the pulse of what the community is saying,” says Geneva Coleman, president of The Hawthorne Agency.
Begun in 1990, The Hawthorne Agency is a New Orleans-based public relations and communications firm skilled in marketing, public relations, public involvement, graphic design and web site development that works with private businesses and public sector clients – including governmental bodies and contractors doing business with those local governments. Coleman says she is now expanding her firm’s business operations and hopes to begin by increasing public sector work statewide.
It is no secret that when public sector projects are done, they impact residents – whether it is through something as major as road closures due to major road reconstruction or something as simple as increased tax dollars to cover the costs of such a project. Experienced planners know that one of the best ways to minimize the impact is to communicate the details early, concisely and honestly, seeking public opinion whenever possible. That communication remains important once the project begins and continues through to the last day of construction, especially as challenges, problems or other sensitive issues arise during the various stages of the project.
Informing, developing and maintaining public interest and involvement is a vital and necessary component of engineering and public sector projects. It is also a specialty of The Hawthorne Agency.
They actually go into communities and neighborhoods, working with citizens every step of the way to ensure that their concerns and questions are not only brought to the project team’s attention, but addressed in a satisfactory manner. Serving as a liaison in this capacity, can be a cost-saving measure in the long-run because it helps contractors and others on the project team to handle issues or questions raised by citizens in the preliminary phases of the project which saves time, while aiding in minimizing or averting altogether frivolous lawsuits and other kinds of claims and legal actions.
Coleman says the company has realized many success stories in their 20 years in business, but some of the more significant public sector projects are outlined on their web site (www.hawthorneagency.com). They include:
The I-10 Noise Mitigation Study which was designed to determine noise levels in areas bordering Interstate 10 in the New Orleans metro area and what types of noise barrier construction could be done to reduce noise levels for people living along the interstate – both now and in the future. The end result was the construction of noise barriers in the affected areas – something that had never been done before. But before that happened, there were concerns on the part of many residents.
“People were concerned about how the barriers would look and would they feel claustrophobic with tall walls all around them and so forth,” says Coleman, whose firm had a contract with the engineering firm hired to manage the mitigation study.
Coleman’s agency was directly involved in informing, developing and maintaining public interest. The firm used a variety of public involvement strategies, including an original video displaying the benefits of the project, an introduction to the types of noise barriers and personal commentaries from people who live behind them. They also scheduled public meetings, issued newsletters, and maintained a project mailing list and a question/information line.
The Southeast Louisiana Drainage Program, was another program she was directly involved in. This project sought to reduce flood damages in the City of New Orleans and surrounding parishes by constructing new pumping stations and better drainage canals. As the project unfolded and every step along the way, The Hawthorne Agency provided such services as maintaining a project hotline, offering claims assistance, coordinating neighborhood information meetings, instituting a direct communications strategy and serving as an intergovernmental and legislative liaison.
“We have done extensive public involvement with these projects in every neighborhood and every sector of the community that these construction projects are occurring in,” Coleman says. “I’m real pleased to be working on them because it gives people a lot of hope that there is something in place to try to help deal with flooding issues.”
Coleman is not only involved through her business in public sector projects, she has made it her personal mission to be involved with her local and state governments when there are things to be accomplished there. One of her crowning achievements was the passage of the Hudson Initiative, authored by the visionary and former State Representative, Roy Quezaire, Jr. – for which she and a dedicated group of supporters helped write legislation for and got the measure passed in the Louisiana State Legislature..
Also known as the Small Entrepreneurship (SE) Program, the Hudson Initiative is a goal-oriented program which encourages state agencies to contract with certified small entrepreneurships, as well as encouraging contractors who receive contracts from the state to use good faith efforts to utilize certified SE’s in the performance of the contract. The Hudson Initiative is a race and gender-neutral program, whose primary goal is to provide additional opportunities for Louisiana-based small entrepreneurships that are certified by the Louisiana Department of Economic Development to participate in contracting and procurement with the State.
“Basically the law says, all state boards, agencies and commissions shall include small entrepreneurships in the procurement process,” Coleman says.
The long overdue measure was passed in June 2005 and Hurricane Katrina hit the area in August 2005. The unfortunate timing of Katrina has made it hard to get a good handle on exactly how successful the initiative has been so far.
“But the importance of the bill is that there has to be some reporting by these agencies to the Division of Administration on the quantity and even the dollar amounts of the procurements small businesses have won, and also that the Division of Administration must annually report to the legislative bodies – the House and Senate – what has transpired in the way of procurement by small businesses,” Coleman explains, adding that they’ve at least made some headway, though there are still many more steps to take. “But at least we have the basis for something very viable and that will be of great assistance and help to small business owners – and not just upstarts, but those who have been in business for awhile but yet are still small according to the guidelines set forth under the Hudson Initiative.”
Whether she is pursuing a cause for small and minority businesses, or she and her team of communications and PR professionals are helping pave the way for public sector projects, Coleman says the strength of her business is that they give 110 percent and they make certain that they understand the dynamics of any community anywhere from New Orleans to Timbuktu.
“We make it a point to be on the ground with the constituents of any area and to ensure that we find out what their needs are and integrate that with the project team so that they also can have a certain understanding of the kinds of inclusion that are necessary if you’re going to work well with the community on the projects being brought into their neighborhoods. (And like our motto) we continue to perfect the art of communication , no matter what we’re working on,” she says, adding that they’re both anxious and excited to bring that same level of communication to whatever projects they take on as they seek out new business opportunities throughout the state of Louisiana and beyond.
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