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The comprehensive outreach campaign secured ample press coverage, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in comparable ad placement. Almost all of it was highly favorable.

As a result of its deal with the developer, Saco now has a new Amtrak station for The Downeaster. It's one of the finest train stations in the Northeast, an infrastructure improvement that Biddeford/Saco is very proud of.

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Winning A $30 Million Vote


Challenge

Saco Island, LLC wanted to buy and redevelop a huge complex of mill buildings in Saco, Maine. The developer hoped to enter into a partnership with the City of Saco, to secure financial incentives that would make redevelopment of the properties feasible, and without which the property could not be redeveloped. Saco Island had remained mostly dormant for close to 25 years, with very little growth. Worse, a previous Island “developer” had defaulted on his project and skipped town during a recession in the 1980s, leaving a very bad taste for many Saco citizens. Getting any financial help from the City would be a big political hurdle.

Saco Mayor Mark Johnston addresses three TV crews and four area newspapers as he introduces developer Kevin Mattson (far right).

Strategy & Tactics

Beginning with a high-profile and very well-attended press conference, Robinson PR launched a full-scale community, media and political outreach campaign that left absolutely no stone unturned. The effort included press releases, Op-Eds, ghost-written editorials for political leaders, editorial board meetings, coordinated letters to the editor, handouts and flyers, a conference of “smart growth” experts and countless meetings with community and political leaders.

Results

Robinson secured newspaper and TV news coverage worth hundreds of thousand of dollars in comparable ad placement, plus editorial support in favor of Council approval from all four local newspapers. Just two months after Robinson PR launched the campaign, the Saco City Council voted to create a new $30 million Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district on Saco Island, the largest real estate TIF in Maine history. The deal returned 95% of the project’s property taxes to the developer for the first fifteen years, and 90% for the second fifteen years. The standing-room-only crowd who attended the meeting spoke in favor of the project by an overwhelming margin. The worldwide recession that began in 2008 shut down the American economy and threw up some obstacles, but progress continues, unlike what happened 25 years ago. (Visit www.SacoIslandOffice.com) Recognizing the achievement of winning project approval by successfully navigating treacherous political shoals, Saco Mayor Mark Johnston presented Mark Robinson with a Key to the City of Saco.

At a reception held at the Saco Museum, the city's Mayor Matk Johnston presents Mark Robinson with a key to the City of Saco, in recognition of Robinson's communications efforts that helped win approval for the eventual redevelopment of Saco Island.