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www.marinelink.com MN 13 Board, George Foster of JB Marine Service, and chaired by a respected and forward-looking industry leader, Mark Knoy of AEP River Operations. Mark and his Council of senior executives from tugboat, towboat and barge com- panies in both the brown-water and blue-water business are going to help us identify opportunities that we can seize and resources that we can leverage to expand our capacity to tell our indus- try’s great story to the public. What can AWO members and stake- holders do to help? Start with what you know best: your company, your community, your indus- try. Recognize that your employees are a tremendous base of grassroots advoca- cy support and terrific ambassadors for our industry. Give them the information they need to communicate with their Members of Congress on industry issues, and make sure they know what AWO is doing to try to make their industry stronger. Use the relationships you have in your community – civic associations, busi- ness groups, local media – to get the word out and build allies. Especially in this age of information overload, what makes a message relevant is its personal connection to the listener. Our industry’s messages will always be more relevant, and more memorable, when they’re delivered by people from the community. Your local paper doesn’t want to run an op-ed by someone from a Washington, D.C.-based trade association; they want to hear from an employer who provides jobs in the community the paper serves. MN
