Continental’s Wahpeton manufacturing plant, formerly WCCO Belting, was acquired by Continental in July 2022. The plant is located in a small, rural town in North Dakota, where unemployment rates have hovered at zero percent for years. There continue to be more jobs available in North Dakota than there are graduates to fill those jobs, and there are several manufacturing plants in the area all vying for the same potential employees. This makes employee recruitment and retention one of the plant’s biggest challenges. The Wahpeton facility needed to do something to help it stand out as a top employer in the area and was interested in a solution that could also help differentiate it from other industrial belting companies and drive brand awareness among current and prospective customers.
In 2017, WCCO Belting hired Keeton Public Relations to create and implement a strategic PR plan that would positively position the company within the local community and help take its manufacturing output to the next level, while also increasing brand visibility in key markets including agriculture and mining. The goal of the PR program was twofold:
Enhance the image of the facility to help attract new employees, and
Spread the word about the company’s global impact and innovative approach to industrial belting
Keeton PR, together with the Wahpeton plant’s internal team, implemented several strategic initiatives to help the company achieve its recruiting and company goals, including:
Created a robust media relations plan, determined topics to pitch to a variety of targeted media and positioned the CEO, members of the executive team and product engineers as thought leaders in multiple areas including:
Introducing students (elementary, high school and college students) to the opportunities available in manufacturing
Exporting and trade
Women in manufacturing
Diversity in manufacturing
Leaders in manufacturing
Corporate culture / hiring trends
Safety in manufacturing
Automation as a necessity to fill workforce gaps
Various topics related specifically to industrial belting, including total cost of ownership, questions to ask, innovation in belting, and more
Positioned the company as a great to place to work by:
Pitching story angles about diversity on the manufacturing floor including the number of women working and number of different languages spoken (12!)
Sharing impactful company news
Sharing information about the company’s positive culture
Sharing news about events at the facility including community involvement/support of local nonprofits and colleges
Sought out local and national awards to achieve recruiting and company goals. Some of the awards earned include:
Prairie Business Magazine’s Best Places to Work for nine years
Fast Company’s 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators
Manufacturing Leadership Award for Operational Excellence from National Association of Manufacturing
North Dakota Safety Council, multiple safety awards
Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year Award
Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Northern Plains Chapter Cooperate Leadership in Philanthropy Award
Export Import Bank of America (EXIM) Exporter of the Year Award
Created a News page for the website to post blogs and share media coverage and impactful stories from the facility
Created and managed a Facebook page for employees and community members interested in what the plant was doing locally (deleted page after Continental acquisition)
Managed the plant’s LinkedIn page, which is still live
Utilized special holidays like National Manufacturing Day to pitch story angles to media, including inviting media in for tours of the facility
Helped coordinate celebrations for milestones happening at the facility, including ribbon cuttings, impactful anniversaries, corporate giving initiatives and more. Invited media and local elected officials to attend.
Over the past six years, the Wahpeton PR program has proven to be a great success that continues today. The program has yielded more than 380 articles, interviews, podcasts and thought leadership insights in relevant media outlets around the world, resulting in more than 54.7 million impressions. Together, Wahpeton employees and the plant itself have won more than 20 awards throughout the course of the PR program to date.
Notably, headcount at the Wahpeton plant has grown by 50 percent, from 200 to 300 employees over the past six years, demonstrating success at both attracting new workers and growing the business enough to require 100 new employees to help meet demand. The increased awareness generated through this PR initiative even played a likely role in the ultimate acquisition of WCCO Belting by Continental!
