Among the litany of approvals an industrial owner must pursue prior to the construction and operation of a new facility, perhaps none is as difficult to earn as public acceptance.
It’s the hardest to get and the easiest to lose, says Tim Johnson, founder and president of stakeholder engagement specialist TJC Group of Baton Rouge.
“The earning of the trust and goodwill of the stakeholders in a community is what we call the ‘public license to operate,’” Johnson says, “and there’s never been a time when it’s more important to engage and communicate with our industrial neighbors.”
Most clients are aware of the need to connect with the local community, but they often make a fatal assumption: that public acceptance, once gained, can’t be lost.
“Many think that there is an endpoint,” Johnson says. “There never is. The securing of trust is not enough; you’ve got to continue to sustain and strengthen it throughout the life of a facility.”
TJC Group works with clients to build a base of knowledge and cultivate a level of understanding among stakeholders. “Then that understanding can generally lead to some level of trust,” he says. “We may not always agree, and I might not like what you tell me, but if I trust you, from that we can generate goodwill.”
Community advisory panels are the most common vehicle for accomplishing that goal. Johnson cut his teeth developing and running CAPs when he founded the company in 1990. Today, there are more than 400 CAPs currently operating in the U.S., 70 of which created by TJC Group. Of those, 27 are in the industrial space.
In creating each 20- to 30-member panel, TJC Group seeks to ensure they are representative of a community’s demographics, whether it be race, age, socioeconomic bracket or occupational makeup. Some are single-plant CAPS, while others are parishwide or regional and comprised of multiple owners.
“During the meetings, we’ll talk about a variety of subjects, such as environmental performance, health, emergency preparedness, incident prevention, local hiring, support for schools, among a host of other things,” Johnson says, “with the end goal of keeping the lines of communication open.
“We want to build that trust and goodwill, but we don’t want the relationship to be so cozy that they’re not willing to say the community has a problem.”
The Approach
There are numerous other ways to approach community engagement. UK-based wood pellet producer Drax Biomass has noticeably ramped up its presence in the public arena in recent months, hiring Aarika Plunkett as its first U.S. community manager and adding a cadre of community liaisons across its industrial footprint in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Alabama.
Through the Drax Foundation and Drax Community Fund, both created in 2023, they recently awarded $50,000 to the National Audubon Society for the protection of birds and their habitats.
Another $4,000 helps the Rapides Wildlife Association power a wildlife camera that gives a bird’s eye view of an eagle’s nest in the Kisatchie National Forest.
“At any given time, there’s 500-some people watching a bird’s nest in central Louisiana,” says Michelli Martin, communications manager at the company’s U.S. headquarters in Monroe. It’s not the biggest thing we’ve ever done, but it’s bringing joy to people.”
In Monroe, Drax has provided monetary donations to the Children’s Museum and the Queens of Tomorrow initiative, a mentorship program for young girls that provides them with direct access to STEM education opportunities.
In the process, Drax hopes to reinforce a sense of community among their employees. “Our employees work for us, but they live in these communities. So that’s our family; that’s our home. It would be weird if we didn’t invest in where they are.”
Drax also created its first CAP at the site of its pellet production facility in Gloster, Mississippi, and plans to form additional CAPs in Louisiana and Alabama by the end of the year.
“We have these dollars to spend in the community, but we need to know the best places for them to go,” Marti says. “While we have a community liaison who works at the plants, it’s nice to have those boots on the ground to give us an idea of where the greatest needs are and where those dollars need to go. We’re making the community a part of the decision.We’re more successful when we involve are stakeholders such as civic leaders, religious leaders … we need all of them at the table.”
Establishing a community bond
Engagement takes on even greater significance when a community’s nerves are already frayed.
In response to local concerns over Air Products’ plans to sequester carbon beneath Lake Maurepas in conjunction with its new $4.5 billion Louisiana Clean Energy Complex, the company launched a multi-pronged approach to repair its “public license to operate.”
In 2023, the company launched the Lake Maurepas Community Fund, which will commit some $1 million annually to communities bordering Lake Maurepas.
The fund made inaugural investments to support the missions of two safety-focused organizations—the Livingston Parish Fire Protection District #2 and the Manchac Volunteer Fire Department.
Each will each receive a grant of $400,000 to support their first response missions, facilitate the purchase of new patrol and emergency response boats that will bolster response times in Lake Maurepas.
“First response agencies play a critical role in the lake community, and they need to have the best equipment possible to keep our lake safe and healthy,” says Danna LeBlanc, commercial executive director for the Louisiana Clean Energy Complex, in a press release.
“It’s only fitting that the first grants from the Air Products Lake Maurepas Community Fund are directed toward their missions.”
