Newsletter and Magazine Samples
Purpose: marketing tool to attract new business, image piece for the company
Cover Article
Saw Dust Manufacturing Carves a Niche
“Have thy tools ready; God will find thee work,” noted British author Charles Kingsley more than a century ago. Since 2002, talented craftsmen at Friendship Haven have kept their tools ready for the unique woodworking projects that take shape in a converted three-car garage in the heart of campus.
“Sawdust just gets in your blood,” says Don Moenck, a retired carpenter who lives in Friendship Haven’s town homes and repairs furniture at the Saw Dust Manufacturing shop.
The opportunity to be creative is a big plus of living at Friendship Haven, adds Carl Steig, a retired high school shop teacher who enjoys building furniture. You’ll typically find Carl at Saw Dust Manufacturing from 7: 30 a.m to 3 p.m.every weekday, except the afternoons when he plays bridge. He might be building a bookcase or entertainment center, or he may be crafting a vase or bowl from exotic woods including birdseye maple and purple heart.
“A lot of our customers live right here at Friendship Haven,” adds Carl, who notes that the wooden cross in the Celebration Center at Kenyon Place was made at Saw Dust Manufacturing. The men have also made wooden frames for the stained glass items designed by Gary and Madolyn Bird at Friendship Haven.
The Saw Dust Manufacturing shop is just one of the perks of living at Friendship Haven, Don says. “The people are friendly, and there’s always something to do around here.”
Sample Newsletters, Marketing Magazines Article: Hubbell Solutions magazine, produced by Hubbell Realty Company, focuses on property management, construction, and real estate development.
Purpose: This issue focused on a number of Hubbell’s new commercial and residential real estate projects in central Iowa. Hubbell Realty used this edition of its 40-page magazine to showcase some of its premiere projects, including Court Avenue Lofts. Located in a revitalized, historic building, the lofts blend the best of the old with the new to offer a unique housing option in downtown Des Moines, Iowa.
Lofty Goals:
Revitalized Historic Building Offers New Housing Option
Few projects define Hubbell Realty Company’s commitment to honoring the past while building for the future better than the new Court Avenue Lofts. Located above the Spaghetti Works building, the apartments offer affordable, downtown living at its best in one of Des Moines’ most historic districts.
“This grand old building preserves the traditional character of the area while providing a unique setting for contemporary urban living,” said Steve Niebuhr, senior vice president of development and management services for Hubbell Realty. “This new housing option is attracting a younger crowd to downtown Des Moines.”
Since Court Avenue Lofts’ debut in late 2006, nearly 40 percent of the 51 units (which are priced starting in the $560s) had been leased by early January of 2007. It’s a strong opening, especially when you consider that the softest rental months occur during the winter, said Harry Bookey, president and owner of BH Equities, which is leasing the units.
“Young people like to be where the action is. When they’ve moved away from Des Moines, they’ve often headed to downtown areas like Lincoln Park in Chicago, Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis or the Plaza in Kansas City. With all the quality projects like Court Avenue Lofts that are revitalizing Des Moines, however, I think the city’s downtown area has reached the tipping point.”
Hubbell brings the past into the future
The Court Avenue Lofts are located in the Seth Richards Commercial Block, which reflects Des Moines’ early retail sector and its wholesale district. Constructed in two phases in 1890 and circa 1897, the building that now houses the Court Avenue Lofts once included a factory that fabricated millinery goods. Owned by Moses Strauss and Alexander Lederer, the business supplied retail markets in Iowa and beyond for years.
Hubbell Realty Company worked with William C. Page, a public historian, to document the history of the Strauss-Lederer building and get it placed on the National Register of Historic Places. After this designation was bestowed in 2005, state and federal historic tax credits became available to help transform the building into one- and two-bedroom housing units complete with 9-foot ceilings, modern paint schemes and spacious living areas.
Hubbell first enlisted engineers to conduct a structural analysis of the building’s interior and exterior. An environmental review was also completed to evaluate asbestos levels, check for the presence of lead and more. While time had taken a toll on the building (which had sagging floors creating a slope of up to five inches, window sills that were rotted and floor joists that weren’t rated to carry the load necessary for residential units), Hubbell approached the redevelopment project systematically. Changes for adaptive reuse included:
- Leveling the floors
- Installing all new mechanical systems, including water and electrical
- Reframing portions of the building
- Adding state-of-the-art safety and fire protection systems
- Framing the units
- Retrofitting all the windows with insulated glass
What’s old becomes new again
From start to finish, Hubbell strived to preserve the historic nature of the Victorian-era building, which reflects the Romanesque Revival style in its architecture. For example, the large, custom-milled windows that offer dramatic views of downtown match the structure’s profile and feature original rolled plaster corners, Niebuhr noted.
Original posts and support columns that grace the interior of the apartments maintain the feel of a factory. Traditional fire doors from the upper floors have become distinctive features in some of the units. Beadboard from the building’s ceilings that was sandblasted to remove any lead-based paint has been reinstalled in the common area’s corridor ceilings. Original trim was salvaged and used to make custom moldings for the units. In addition, ornate spindles, rails and treads from the building’s large, open staircase were incorporated into an internal fire escape staircase enclosed by a firewall.
To make the 573- to 1,115-square foot apartments even more appealing, Hubbell Realty added tasteful exterior balconies that wouldn’t compromise the look of the building, Niebuhr added. Other amenities include a comfortable community room (complete with a large-screen TV, a lounge and fitness equipment), a business center, on-site laundry, available parking, high-speed Internet access to every bedroom and living space, and controlled access to the building and common areas. It’s a combination that’s proving irresistible to many younger employees who work in the downtown service sector.
“It’s very exciting to see a historic building contribute to the revitalization of downtown Des Moines by providing affordable housing options with the latest elements of urban design,” Niebuhr said. “Also, the Court Avenue Loft tenants are the next wave of homebuyers for downtown condos and other properties.”
Sample Newsletters, Marketing Magazines Article: The Pork Checkoff Report, a quarterly magazine produced by the National Pork Board, is designed to provide the information that America’s pork producers need to succeed in today’s business environment.
Purpose: This cover story shows how America’s pork producers are pledging their support to do the right thing through the “We Care” responsible pork initiative, which is based on a number of ethical principles. The feature article is designed to promote the work of the Pork Checkoff and educate pork producers about how they can be part of the solution to tell agriculture’s story accurately.
Defining and Defending Who We Are:
“We Care” Responsible Pork Initiative Builds Trust
If it seems like the forces working against animal agriculture are accelerating, it’s not your imagination. “Pork producers are facing much tougher opponents than they did a decade ago, and a new strategy is required,” said Al Eidson, a principal of Eidson & Partners, who has worked closely with the Pork Checkoff’s Operation Main Street program.
The numbers alone are staggering:
• With 10.5 million members and a 2008 budget of $138 million, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has become a well-respected, mainstream organization that boasts approximately 157 times as many members as there are pork producers in the United States. The group has been especially vocal regarding gestation crates in modern pork production systems. Wayne Pacelle, the group’s president and CEO, has publicly stated that “there is no place for gestation crates in American agriculture.”
• When a proposal ban sow stalls in Florida arose in recent years, Pam Huizenga Van Hart, heiress to the Blockbuster Video fortune, spent more than $1 million to collect signatures to change the state’s constitution and ban sow stalls, even though fewer than 2,000 sows were kept in stalls in Florida. Van Hart is just one of many politically savvy, highly motivated, individuals with substantial personal resources that can be dedicated to their cause.
• According to Larry Copeland’s 2008 USA Today article entitled “Animal Rights Groups Pick Up Momentum,” membership in People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has spiked, with PETA claiming 1.8 million members. In addition, more than 90 colleges now offer animal law courses compared to only a handful 10 years ago. This growing interest in animal law is compared to an explosion of environmental law interest in the 1970s.
• Animal activist groups are becoming more sophisticated, and their efforts have been resonating with more Americans in the last several years. Instead of shoving a cream pie in the face of the Iowa Pork Queen, as PETA did in 1991, today’s most effective animal activists are adopting mainstream messages, such as farm animals to be housed comfortably. Activists are also willing to employ a variety of tactics, including litigation, ballot initiatives, boycotts and more.
“The rules have changed, and we’re in a very vulnerable marketplace,” said Dallas Hockman, vice president of industry relations for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). “Although we’ve been talking about these issues for more than 20 years, there’s an element of urgency now.”
That’s why the NPPC is working closely with the National Pork Board to support the responsible pork initiative We Care. By building trust and promoting social responsibility, pork producers affirm their obligation to:
- Produce safe food
- Protect and promote animal well-being
- Safeguard natural resources in all industry practices
- Provide a work environment that is safe and consistent with the industry’s other ethical principles
- Contribute to a better quality of life in communities
- Ensure practices to protect public health
This Pork Checkoff-supported initiative is a new twist on show-and-tell: tell the pork industry’s story, and show how pork producers are accountable to established ethical principles and animal well-being practices.
Programs provide proof
The pork industry already offers numerous programs, including Pork Quality Assurance Plus®, to support animal well-being and maintain a safe, high-quality supply of pork. The “We Care” effort ties everything together and helps the public to view the pork industry as a self-regulated business that earns the trust of others.
“Social responsibility is not an abstract concept; it’s put into practice every day on our farm as we follow strict production protocols,” said Julie Maschhoff, whose family members are the fifth-generation owners of a swine operation near Carlyle, Ill. “It’s important that we talk about the ethical principles that guide our business, so consumers understand that we are committed to being good neighbors and good businesspeople who provide a safe product.”
This is especially important since a vast majority of Americans are at least three generations removed from the farm, said Charlie Arnot, chief executive officer for the Center for Food Integrity. “If we refer to farm animals only as units of production and don’t recognize the animals as living beings, we lose a vital connection with the rational majority of Americans. That means we can’t respond to the activists only with scientific and economic data. We have to show that our animals are well cared for, and that we share the general public’s values of compassion, responsibility and truth.”
The pork industry already has the building blocks in place to achieve this goal, including 1.) a formalized statement of the ethnical principles by which the industry operates, 2.) programs for best practices, including PQA Plus, and 3.) proof that producers follow these principles and practices, through the third-party, on-farm assessment component of PQA Plus.
“The pork industry has ethical principles, but they are empty promises if we just talk the talk and don’t walk the walk of PQA Plus,” said Erik Risa, education program manager for the National Pork Board. “It’s exciting to see that pork producers are genuinely interested in the ‘We Care’ initiative, and a growing number are willing to take action and lead by example.”
While the pork industry has focused on continuous improvement for decades, the “We Care” responsible pork initiative offers proof of performance for anyone who asks, Eidson added. “The real audience for these efforts includes restaurant chains like McDonald’s, grocery retailers like Wal-Mart and lawmakers—not the activists themselves. Since retailers and policymakers can’t defend something they can’t quantify, ‘We Care’ equips people with the facts and reassures them that the pork industry is doing the right thing.”
Proactive stance benefits producers
Since PQA Plus was introduced in June of 2007, more than 21,000 people have been certified, noted Risa, who added that nearly 3,000 swine operations have completed the voluntary, on-farm assessment. PQA Plus exemplifies pork producers’ willingness to invest their Checkoff to improve production practices, protect food safety, care for the environment and more, Hockman added. It also reflects producers’ proactive efforts to support their industry during this critical time.
“If we fail to embrace these efforts, other will develop legislation for pork producers,” Hockman said. “We can all agree that it’s better to align the industry, promote the responsible pork initiative, and speak with one voice, rather than allow outside authorities to regulate our industry.”
Pork producers have long been recognized for their willingness to stand up for agriculture, and their efforts do make a difference, Eidson said. “While the components of the ‘We Care’ program aren’t guaranteed to stave off a ballot initiative, they go a long ways towards building trust with consumers, policymakers and retailers as pork producers contribute to a safe, affordable food supply.”