By a Strategic Communications Consultant on the Frontlines of U.S. Reindustrialization
I’ve been in the room when a company’s leaders met with a state’s economic developers to plan a flashy, scripted news conference announcing the latest and greatest manufacturing project. And I’ve been in a small county courthouse two weeks later, where an angry crowd of citizens held handmade signs saying, “We don’t want this here.”
That’s the tension we live with as America tries to rebuild its manufacturing base. We want to build more things here. But we haven’t gotten comfortable with the reality that “here” means someone’s hometown. Often, that hometown is a rural community that’s heard promises before, only to be letdown, and is in no rush to believe another one.
We chant “USA!” at rallies at the mention of bringing manufacturing jobs back. But the strain of populism coursing through the nation’s political veins inevitably clashes with the patriotic promises of onshoring in America. The common refrain goes something like this: “We’re not against [insert industry facility here]. We just don’t think this is the right place for it.”
When county commissioners and city councilors see and hear angry mobs of citizens in their meetings, they better get ready. The political support your project enjoyed is about to disappear. Local elected officials love recruiting new companies and industries to their areas for all the right reasons. But when it gets challenging in public, they often run for the hills.
The goal is to avoid that. If you’re in public relations and working with companies building EV, biopharma, data centers, chip, or ag-tech facilities, understand this: your job is not just media statements and stakeholder maps on a slide deck. It’s showing up.
Early.
In person.
In places where you might not have cell service, let alone a Starbucks.
Too many comms teams want to manage these projects from a browser window. They build stakeholder lists in spreadsheets, draft Q&As, and wait for the site plan to go public before they start engaging.
That’s a mistake.
Every community in America can organize on digital platforms in a matter of hours. If you haven’t already started building real trust by the time the project becomes public, you’re too late.
Once the organizing on digital platforms begins, the rumor mill takes over. The narrative begins to be written by people who have no obligation to accuracy or fairness. At that point, you’re not shaping perception—you’re chasing it. And you’ll find yourself spending way too much time explaining to your CEO why watching every comment on social media is not a productive use of their time.
That’s not to say sentiment on social media or digital platforms should be ignored. They’re a decent barometer for public sentiment and one way to take the community’s temperature and understand where the pressure points are. But digital platforms are not where the hard work gets done. The hard work happens face to face—in someone’s kitchen, in the back room of a hardware store, at the VFW on a Tuesday night. That’s where trust is built. That’s where you move the needle.
Stakeholder engagement isn’t a line item. It means driving three hours to a town you’ve never heard of and sitting down with people who don’t trust outsiders and may not trust your client. Listening before talking. Taking notes. Coming back the next week. And the one after that.
And when you come back, importantly, you should have solved for a problem the stakeholder raised. This demonstrates active listening and a deep desire to be a part of the solution.
It takes grit, and it takes vulnerability. You must be willing to stand in a room where no one is smiling or clapping. To represent a company still figuring things out. To answer the hard questions with honesty—and to say “I don’t know, but I’ll find out” when that’s the truth.
I’ve seen this done well. In one Southern town, a local pastor became the unlikely validator for a large auto manufacturing facility. His congregation was mostly working-class residents who felt overlooked and underemployed. He understood the project’s economic potential, but more importantly, he understood what his silence would signal. So, he spoke up at a public meeting, in his own words. Nothing flashy. Just the conviction that his community deserved a shot at meaningful work. That simple statement broke the ice. People who had stayed quiet started asking questions. And not long after, enough people started voicing support.
That moment didn’t come from a media plan. It came from months of groundwork. Quiet conversations. Honest listening. A willingness to engage people on their terms, not yours.
If you’re advising a CEO on where and how to build, and you’re not asking who the five most trusted people in town are, you’re missing the point. If your engagement plan doesn’t include sitting with them before you file a permit, don’t be surprised when you’re met with hostility at the first zoning hearing.
You can’t out-press-release NIMBY opposition. You have to out-relationship it.
The objections you’ll hear—traffic, water usage, crime, school overcrowding, change to community character—aren’t always rooted in facts. But they’re real to the people raising them. They don’t go away because you throw jobs and tax revenue into a slideshow. They go away when you show your company is serious about being a neighbor, not just an employer.
We’ve seen companies do this right. They identify and engage stakeholders early. They develop mitigation plans before concerns are raised. They consistently show their face in the community, not just when they need something. And they elevate local voices who are respected enough to say, “This isn’t perfect, but it’s good and it’s worth it.”
That’s how you win permission to build. Not with a billboard. With trust.
The U.S. wants to reshore its supply chains, reindustrialize its economy, and lead in the industries of the future. But we won’t get there if every groundbreaking turns into a battleground. Comms professionals have to stop treating community relations like cleanup duty and start treating it like the core strategic function it is.
You want to do meaningful work in this space? Pack your bag. Get on the road. Find the local diner, sit at the counter, and listen more than you talk.
If we want to build things in America, we’ve got to start by earning our place in the backyard.
CGA on the Go!
Pictured from left to right:
Senior Finance Manager Alex López at a horse race in Maryland.
Cornerstone colleagues Lauren McCay, Charlie Hannema, and Brian Hackler celebrating the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first NBA Championship at a parade party in downtown Oklahoma City.
Principal Ben Sheidler from our Georgia office fishing in Pensacola, Florida.
Principal Kirsten West from our D.C. office having a boat day!
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