Company: Arch Street Communications, Tarrytown, NY
Company Description: As local market experts with deep experience in both New York State and energy projects, Arch Street Communications (ASC) has a proven approach to new projects entering the State that couples our boots-on-the-ground experience with proven, authentic communications. As a woman-owned business, ASC has three decades of experience working on public engagement and environmental review projects.
Nomination Category: Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Achievement in Organization Recovery
 Nomination Title: ascRemote
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the nominated achievements since July 1 of 2020, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- Briefly describe the nominated organization: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 187 words used.
Arch Street Communications (ASC), a New York Women-Owned and Disadvantaged (W/DBE) strategic communications firm, delivers meaningful, measurable and defensible communications solutions that build awareness, achieve project goals and increase stakeholder understanding and participation for government agencies, corporations and nonprofit organizations.
Established in 1992, ASC brings 30 years of experience to its unique combination of strategic insight, marketing communications and public and stakeholder engagement capabilities, including a focus on inclusiveness and equity. ASC brings a depth of multidisciplinary skills and expertise not found in traditional communications firms, including public policy and the emerging technologies that will be essential in meeting state and federal climate action goals, including New York’s nation-leading Climate Leadership and Communities Protection Act (CLCPA). ASC’s capabilities include strategic planning, public engagement, market research, digital communication, design and the development of marketing materials to move major initiatives and engage markets.
ASC has advanced initiatives in more than 80 communities in New York State alone, as well as along the eastern seaboard, for federal agencies, across the United States and for private sector energy developers in offshore wind and other renewables, to advance and realize strategic goals.
- Outline the organization's achievements since the beginning of last year that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 245 words used.
ASC created ascRemote, a suite of tools to help companies and organizations regain momentum and speed recovery by engaging stakeholders and the public right where they are.
During the pandemic, the public sector paused infrastructure, clean energy and other policy-related projects and programs, creating an undesirable disconnect with communities, increasing distrust and prompting large-scale layoffs across firms that create jobs to staff and complete such projects and programs. The public sector was largely unfamiliar, and uncomfortable, with outward facing digital communication. The majority of solutions flooding their inboxes were from tech companies with little or no understanding of regulatory requirements on communication by the public sector; ascRemote is different.
ASC’s public engagement experts at ASC brought years of on-the-ground experience to build a new solution to match technology to this real-world challenge.
ASC saw an opportunity to contribute to recovery by curating virtual tools into a playbook that meets public sector requirements for accessibility and launching a campaign and training effort to induct the public sector into adoption of these tools. In 2020, ASC launched a new website, ascRemote, a rich resource of information on virtual communication for the public sector. The site includes a downloadable toolkit that evaluates virtual tools, a playbook that maps virtual and hybrid approaches to digital communication with the public, webinars, and blogs. ascRemote continues to develop, and has now expanded to include hybrid solutions, and custom tools for use in public sector projects vital to economic and social recovery.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 90 words used.
Supporting materials on ascRemote include links to ASC’s playbook for virtual engagement, the toolkit provided to companies, ascRemote LinkedIn page, and ASC’s virtual engagement strategy.
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions, provide them in the appropriate spaces below:
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Since launch, ascRemote has been visited by more than 5500 public sector users, with more than 11,000 page views and a 92% increase in site visits per year.
The achievements of ascRemote are significant to helping organizations engage with the public during a time of uncertainty, social distancing, and stay-at-home requirements brought on by the pandemic. While other industry players retreated, ASC advanced to meet client and public needs for communication, and in so doing, stimulated our own recovery, and prevented layoffs of any kind for our staff; in fact, we increased staff during the pandemic to continue building ascRemote.
ASC invited others in the industry to join us in casting a wide net to meet government needs, and several competitors participated in webinars we conducted to coach and support the public sector during a most challenging time and transition in communication.
There was, to our knowledge, no other web service like ours when we launched. Since that time, others have appeared, but none seems to offer the free service of the ascRemote model, and few copycats make any effort to provide replicable models for public engagement.
Competitors generally offer links and supporting materials on how to work in remote spaces; ascRemote goes several steps further to provide organizations with mentoring and guidance on implementing remote communication. The ASC Virtual Engagement Playbook applies ASC proprietary approaches, such as our “Inside Out™” methodology, to create detailed examples of how organizations can utilize digital and hybrid technologies to generate effective outcomes.
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