Charlotte
Water
Problem
Charlotte Water (CLT Water) oversees hundreds of water and sewer improvement projects each year to support its more than 310,000 service connections across the greater Charlotte service area. Charlotte Water has identified and prioritized many projects that need to be completed within the next decade to meet the needs of ongoing population growth around the rapidly growing Charlotte area.
These projects impact a range of stakeholders including residents, schools, commuters and business owners and oftentimes have time horizons in which work spans several years.
Prior to the influx of widespread new project improvements and implementation, the dedicated Charlotte Water communications team handled public communications efforts and coordination directly. CLT Water knew they would need assistance to manage the multifaceted varying communications needs that would be required of having a large number of projects active in all different neighborhoods of the City.
Solution
Yellow Duck (YDM) was sought out to be one of the MWSBE (Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprises) communications firms to serve as a community outreach partner, leader and liaison to ensure all stakeholders impacted by these important projects are proactively and thoughtfully informed as project plans are developed and executed. YDM currently provides strategic communications, outreach and design support services for 14 active projects happening around the city. Projects have ranged from large water main construction projects in one of Charlotte’s fastest-growing neighborhoods, South End, to extensive wastewater improvements and sewer services through downtown Davidson to a large housing development nearby. Each project presents its own unique design and construction work obstacles and audience targets, which require a customized approach to strategic municipal utility communications planning and execution. By prioritizing both internal and external communications, YDM’s tailored approach to these projects provides the public with a clear and central point of communication and project information, and enables the project management, design, planning and construction teams to focus their efforts on progressing the projects forward. YDM’s work has led to a widespread decrease in project complaints from customers across project areas impacted as well as increased engagement in public meetings, workshops and digital-based communication tools. Charlotte Water also selected YDM to design their annual report and related graphics.
Impact
