Our Clients: Case Studies on Getting Results

Every client has different needs and objectives for their business. Issues Management's approach to problem solving is also unique, tailored to each client’s situation. We think the best way to explain our work is to show how individual clients have benefited. Review these case studies and you will see how Issues Management can make a difference.

CHANGING THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:
Creating New Boundaries

Problem Statement: Our client, a national developer of senior housing, proposed building on a large parcel of land straddling political jurisdictions between a township and a borough. The smaller parcel, just 13 acres, included the access road to the development. Our client could not proceed with the development of either parcel until the permitting and planning requirements of both jurisdictions had been satisfied.

The Issues Management Approach: Clearly a timely resolution was needed if the client was to proceed with the property acquisition of both parcels. The ideal solution for the client was the creation of a common jurisdiction, but making this happen required Issues Management to create a new planning tool.

We proposed and then implemented a plan that satisfied the needs of the developer, the township and the borough. Both towns modified their borders through an “annexation de-annexation” process. Timing was important, as the annexation of one property required official action by both municipalities. Once agreement between the governing bodies was reached, the client was able to move to acquire the land and all outstanding approvals necessary to begin the project. The municipality that gave up the land received a financial settlement for the release of the property under its jurisdiction.

Lasting Solutions: Solutions to client problems are often highly creative and draw on our depth of experience in public policy and government. Rather than rely on an off-the-shelf approach, we look for unique strategies in creating permanent solutions. (back to top)

CUSTOMIZING A CLIENT SOLUTION:

Problem Statement: A major developer was stymied by the complex and time-consuming Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) review process for contaminated site remediation. The client was prepared to clean up and recycle the land, but the existing DEP system for project review would have required years of waiting to develop an acceptable site remediation plan.

he Issues Management Approach: We combined our considerably substantive knowledge of environmental affairs with our unique approach to problem solving to find the answer. Together with a law firm, we developed the concept of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that created a new system for sites with lesser degrees of contamination. Under the MOU, the client essentially was permitted to police its own clean-up. This new environmental management tool saved developers the cost of lengthy approval delays.

This MOU has now become standard practice for contaminated sites of a certain type and is widely used throughout New Jersey. Our reputation for substantive advocacy within state and federal agencies affords us credibility to achieve results in “gray” areas of law.

Lasting Solutions: Thousands of acres of once contaminated New Jersey land have been cleaned up and made available for development because of Issues Management’s unique approach to environmental issues management.
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DELIVERING RESULTS:
 Positioning an Economic Engine

The Issue: The New York Shipping Association wanted to position itself in the political and public eye with a creative advertising and public education campaign that would underscore the economic importance of the Port of New York and New Jersey to the region. The challenge was to create an information campaign that would educate the public and public officials in both New Jersey and New York.

The Issues Management Approach: Issues Management and Insight Communication collaborated on creating a simple, focused, positive message. The result was Delivering Prosperity, a multimedia campaign to highlight the port’s impact on the lives of millions of New Jersey residents.

The broad theme of Delivering Prosperity was developed through coordinated advertising campaigns. The first segment, Delivering Jobs, focused on the contributions of the port and its many employers to the state’s employment base. The second segment, Delivering Products, focused attention on the accessibility and affordability of imported goods to the region.

The Issues/Insight team developed a unique, identifying logo. It incorporated a ship’s propeller and striking graphics and utilized an open door to identify the port’s significance in bringing the world to our doorstep. Radio, newspaper advertising, advertorials, billboards and a website provided a multilayered and coordinated approach to message delivery. Special events, tours and meetings were held to bring the message home to public officials.

Lasting Solutions: The Delivering Prosperity campaign was designed to create a sense of value of the port in the daily lives of our citizens. The ensuing support stimulated by the campaign becomes the platform for future infrastructure improvements and investments by the state to assure that New Jersey’s port remains competitive. (back to top)

GREENING NEW JERSEY BROWNFIELDS:
 A Value Added Approach

The Issue: Our client, Toll Brothers, had assembled a large brownfields site over several years. While the property acquisition strategy yielded acreage suitable for a significant development project, the client was at the first steps of the governmental planning and approval process. They faced years of delay as they gathered input from local and state officials about land use.

The Issues Management Approach: Issues Management created a comprehensive strategy to gain public and local input, including the step-by-step involvement of local officials in the acceptance of the site plan and the developer’s agreement. We took an aggressive approach beginning with an assessment of the local political climate and a community relations strategy that promoted the benefits of smart growth development to state and local officials. Our knowledge of remediation programs and subsidies allowed the developer to minimize private investment.

Lasting Solutions: Issues Management’s depth of experience in real estate development and redevelopment proved a critical factor in successfully completing a large planned urban community. Within 24 months, final approvals were obtained for Hoboken Cove, a planned community with 1,200 housing units, over 100,000 square feet of retail and commercial space and a 6.2-acre park. Issues Management's involvement will result in the conversion of a contaminated and abandoned property to a clean, vibrant, revenue-generating neighborhood. (back to top)

MOVING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS:
New Jersey Physician Assistants

Problem Statement: Attempts to legislate a new category of health-care providers, physician assistants, had been repeatedly defeated by the state’s medical community. New Jersey’s physician assistants needed to generate public support for a program that did not yet exist.

The Issues Management Approach: Issues Management moved beyond the obvious and worked directly with the State Board of Medical Examiners and the State Department of Health to define a pilot physician assistant program in regulation. While limited in scope, the pilot gave the state both the opportunity to clearly define the standards of practice and the comfort of a sunset clause. Once in place, we launched a second step toward securing support for legislation. We collected data on the efficacy of the pilot program to support an accurately informed public opinion campaign. The ensuing media campaign effectively removed any basis for challenging enabling legislation to license physician assistants.

Lasting Solutions: Just a few years ago it was impossible to find a licensed physician assistant practicing in New Jersey. Today more than 1,400 physician assistants are at work in New Jersey hospitals, physicians’ offices and health clinics. Rather than try the cookie cutter approach that failed before, Issues Management crafted a winning solution by combining communication tools and regulatory strategy. (back to top)

PRIORITIZING:
 A Comprehensive Legislative Agenda

Problem Statement: New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network (NJ Sharing Network), New Jersey’s only federally-certified organ procurement organization (OPO), needed a multifaceted public policy agenda to focus public attention on the need for organ donation. At the same time, the political and regulatory climate in New Jersey required sustained education to allow New Jersey to achieve state-of-the-art standards in scientific and medical practice. A complex legislative agenda needed to be crafted to change various statutes and regulations in order to support and facilitate increased donations.

The Issues Management Approach: Issues Management launched a staged legislative campaign delivered over time. Eight major pieces of legislation and a series of regulatory initiatives brought clarity and definition to confusing and conflicting issues about donation debated in the health-care community.

Enactment of the Declaration of Death Act, for example, clearly defined the neurological criteria to declare brain death. Additional benchmark “donor friendly” legislation forced medical examiners to make decisions regarding transplantation of organs in a timely manner.

The New Jersey Organ Donor Enhancement Act required New Jersey hospitals to notify NJ Sharing Network of all deaths, leading to a direct increase in potential donor referrals. Amendments to New Jersey’s Uniform Anatomical Gift Act made donor designation on the state driver’s license a legal, binding gift and paved the way for extensive educational campaigns on donation.

We successfully campaigned for a voluntary state individual income tax form check-off to fund organ donor public education campaigns and developed a special license plate bearing the slogan “Organ donors save lives.”

Issues Management was responsible for managing the legislative process that secured approval for these special initiatives and also developed public message campaigns to increase public awareness. An annual “Donor Day” in the state legislature brings transplant recipients together with their elected officials to drive home the need for a supportive political environment.

Our legislative and communications team work together to assure maximum exposure to support the client’s interest. The results are dramatic and provide a powerful synergy in promoting important issues.

The Solution: After working together for over fourteen years, NJ Sharing Network views the Issues Management team as an on-call staff resource with a deep understanding and commitment to their mission. Our proactive approach to client relations brings all the strengths of our team members together to successfully develop and implement our client’s public policy agenda.
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PROJECT: GRASS ROOTS CAMPAIGN
 Clean & Green Coalition

Problem Statement: New Jersey’s unwanted legacy of industrial development is thousands of contaminated sites across the state. The cost of clean-up makes the sites less than attractive to potential developers while the continued development of undeveloped land or “greenfields” exacerbate the problems of urban sprawl.

The Issues Management Approach: Working with our client, The National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NJ-NAIOP), Issues Management and its partner firm, Insight Communication, packaged an integrated legislative, financial and communications strategy to enable developers to cost effectively clean up abandoned sites and return them to productive use.

Issues Management identified an existing state fund dedicated to environmental clean-up costs. This fund, which has a renewable revenue source, was dedicated to underground storage tank clean-up. Excess funds had accumulated over time.

In order to access the funds for a broader array of environmental clean-up projects, Issues Management coordinated a multi-step legislative campaign. Legislation was first enacted to allow a proposed amendment to the state constitution. With Public Question #2 on the ballot, Insight Communication crafted a statewide “Clean & Green” campaign to support passage. The campaign included press events at “brownfields” sites, broad-based editorial support for the amendment and billboard advertising. Issues Management coordinated extensive support from government officials and public stakeholders, including environmental activists.

Lasting Solutions: When New Jersey voters went to the polls, they overwhelming endorsed the new uses of money. As a result, more than $100 million in existing funding will be available to developers to clean up existing contaminated sites. Issues Management then drafted legislation that formed the basis for the Brownfields Redevelopment Act. The entire process was completed in one year’s time. (back to top)

RERAMING THE ISSUE
 A Solution When State and Federal Standards Are in Conflict

The Problem: A major hospital system wanted access to a federal government program for the purchase of deeply discounted pharmaceuticals. A problem arose when it became clear that the federal government criteria for program compliance appeared in conflict with state law.

The federal 340B program allows certain hospitals to purchase outpatient pharmaceuticals at discounted prices. The program had the potential to save our client as much as $1 million annually. But the federal government required a written certification or contract with the state that mandated the hospital serve a minimum level of uninsured or charity care patients. New Jersey statute requires a higher standard. New Jersey hospitals are required by statute to treat all patients regardless of the ability to pay and the state department of health was unwilling to enter into a contract that required less.

The Issues Management Approach: We reframed the issue refocusing on the substance the agreement sought rather than the form. Negotiating simultaneously with both state and federal officials, we argued that a more general letter of understanding could take the place of the contract. The content of the letter would encompass the federal government acceptance that the New Jersey hospital reimbursement system requires acceptable levels of charity care without specific reference to a standard. We convinced the federal officials to accept the revised form of commitment while encouraging state officials to provide sufficient content to assure an affirmative federal response.

Lasting Solutions: The final federal letter of approval not only allowed an entire class of New Jersey hospitals to participate in the program but also created a new pathway for hospitals nationwide to participate in a program with the potential for millions of dollars in savings on pharmaceutical costs. Our approach to problem solving in this case broke new ground and altered the course of public policy. (back to top)

TOTAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT:
 Staffing the Client's Needs

The Issue: New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network (NJ Sharing Network), New Jersey’s federally-certified organ procurement organization, wanted to develop a media outreach campaign designed for the state’s African-American community but had been hampered by lack of funding.

The Issues Management Approach: When the federal government announced a grant opportunity to underwrite television and radio advertising to minority communities, Insight Communication teamed with NJ Sharing Network staff to produce a winning proposal.

With funding for the media buys secured, Insight Communication produced television commercials and radio spots for NJ Sharing Network that featured minority actors in a taxicab discussing organ donation. Three separate scripts allowed NJ Sharing Network to provide education through dialogue about organ donation myths that are especially prevalent in the African-American community.

The taxicab campaign ads will run in 2005 and 2006. The grant funds also allowed for an evaluation of the media campaign to determine its impact in reaching the target audience. Insight Communication worked with the client in the design of the evaluation model and provided management support through the evaluation process, delivered by an independent researcher.

Lasting Solutions: Insight Communication has partnered with NJ Sharing Network for many years, at times functioning as extended staff. Our close contact allows us to understand the client's ideas and translate them into achievable goals using all sources available to them in the public sector. Total project management from conceptual idea though project implementation is a value-added service of Insight Communication. (back to top)

TURNING THE TIDE:
Bringing the Battleship New Jersey Home

Problem Statement: Multiple public agencies, each with a different constituency, may be stakeholders in a project too large for any individual agency to effectively manage. When three New Jersey communities competed for the honor of providing the USS New Jersey battleship a final home port, a consortium of Camden organizations hired Issues Management to bring the ship “home” to the Camden/Philadelphia waterfront where it was originally constructed.

The Issues Management Approach: In an initial period of concentrated activity, we created a name, logo and identity for the newly organized “Home Port Alliance.” We developed an array of printed materials, handled extensive press relations and assisted in producing a competitive 1,700-page technical application. We secured virtually unanimous editorial support throughout the state as well as tri-state Congressional support.

But the tide was finally turned when the Home Port Alliance took their message beyond the first-line decision makers and directly to the U.S. Navy, which recognized the technical superiority of the Camden site and overrode all opposition.

Lasting Solutions: Today, the USS New Jersey, anchored at its permanent Delaware River berth, and the Home Port Alliance host thousands of visitors annually. Effective communication can make the difference between success and failure, no matter how meritorious the subject matter. Issues Management and Insight Communication work together to both design the most effective way of telling the client’s story and identify the most appropriate audience to receive the message. (back to top)

WINNING IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION:
 A Successful Information Strategy

Problem Statement: A leading pharmaceutical company faced the challenge of expanding a major facility in a New Jersey town with a strong tradition of “no growth.” The legal right to build was not in question, but community opposition would tie up construction in knots and endless delay costing the client both dollars and goodwill.

The Issues Management Approach: Our client had to simultaneously overcome tenacious political and community resistance while developing the basis for a future working relationship. Our philosophy was to manage the issue for and with the company. Our first step, in a multi-step process, was to form an internal company team, whose composition could adjust to the demands of a given issue.

For example, the need for a potable water supply became a hot button for the opposition to development. Our team drew on internal environmental staff as well as external consultants to understand every facet of the issue. We then created an information strategy that assured that facts, not hyperbole or misconception, ruled the day.

As the issue changed from water to traffic, we reconstituted our team accordingly, in every case moving the client’s project ahead while developing stronger working relationships and trust with the community.

Lasting Solutions: From sorting out the politics of a small town and the impact that vocal opponents have on decision makers to developing national communications strategies, Issues Management can provide clients with a strong voice in the court of public opinion and level the playing field.
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