Brewing a Movement: Being Heard When Your Voice is the Smallest

Brewing a Movement: Being Heard When Your Voice is the Smallest
By Corey Lane, Account Supervisor

The Fulton community just wanted a seat at the table.

The community had heard about the corner lot at the foot of Fulton Hill that was being eyed as a site for Stone Brewing Company’s first East Coast operation, a mammoth production facility that would effectively double Virginia’s annual beer production. They’d heard about the social media groups of beer enthusiasts that had bubbled up by the thousands practically overnight to voice support for the proposal. They’d heard the rumors about closed-door pitches and confidential meetings between City and State officials, clamoring for job creation, tax revenue and neighborhood revitalization.

But what the community did not hear was an invitation to weigh in. And to the community of Greater Fulton, this silence is deafening. Once a thriving blue-collar working neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century, it declined steadily as riverfront jobs dried up and sprawl pulled more Fultonites to the suburbs. In the 1960s, Richmond officials enacted Jim Crow-era legislature, citing the right for cities to “serve public welfare” and “challenge blight” by buying out and relocating citizens from under-resourced neighborhoods. Low-income persons in Fulton were displaced, and their homes were razed under the promise of shiny new development that never fully came to fruition.

But the people of Fulton were and remain to be a dynamic and close-knit community, balancing the stoic patience that comes from generations of hard working laborers with an indulgent flair for culture, music and art. When Stone Brewing Company ultimately did choose the corner lot at the foot of Fulton Hill for their facility, the Fulton community heartily—albeit cautiously—made the collective decision to roll out the welcome mat for their highly sought after new neighbors in an attempt to establish partnership early on.

The challenge for the people of Fulton was being heard among the many voices competing for Stone Brewing Company’s attention. A task force was formed to speak on behalf of Greater Fulton, consisting of civic association leaders, community organizers, and business owners. They looked at the efforts from other cities—rowdy block parties, bikini model contests—and decided that they were going to cut through the noise by being true to their collective identity. They were going to get Stone Brewing Company’s attention by being welcoming neighbors.

They worked with a local artist to design an installation 40 feet in diameter: a frosty mug of beer made from branches, hay and—of course—stones, with the hashtag #STONE2RVA, which had been popular with the fervent social media groups. Over 50 Fultonites came together on a Saturday afternoon to assemble the installation on the future site of Stone Brewing Company. Cathartically, they wrote their hopes, fears and well wishes to Stone Brewing Company on the very stones that made up the installation. An aerial photographer captured imagery from a drone and local news stations came out to cover the event.

Footage and interviews from the event were made into a short video, which was posted on the websites and social media pages of various Fulton community groups. Shortly thereafter, it was picked up by beer enthusiast groups via the #STONE2RVA hashtag. Ultimately, it caught the attention of Stone Brewing Company itself, where it was reposted onto their Facebook page, receiving 95,000 impressions and over 700 video views in the first week it was posted. On the video’s YouTube page, Stone Brewing Company left a heartfelt thanks to the people of Greater Fulton and the CEO commented from his personal account a commitment to meet or exceed the expectations that the neighborhood has from his company.

On October 28th, just four days after the video was posted, executives from Stone Brewing Company visited Richmond to meet with City officials, making a special stop at a Fulton community center to meet with neighbors one on one for over two hours. Many factors are at play with the negotiations between Stone Brewing Cmpany and the City of Richmond, but it was clear that the community’s efforts had struck a chord with brewery’s owners.

The community of Greater Fulton successfully circumnavigated the political machine and formed a relationship with Stone Brewing Company because they created a mini-movement. They engaged residents by tapping into the passions at the heart of Fulton: art, music, history and camaraderie. They broke through the clutter by being authentically raw, with intentional choices made in their communication channels, partners, production value, and music. At the same time, they introduced touches of excitement, like cutting edge drone photography and high profile media partnerships that helped amplify the organizers’ energy. Even the simple act of residents expressing themselves on the stones and collaboratively creating art helped individuals feel invested in the cause, and tapping into existing social media activity helped scale that investment.

In less than a month, and with no media spend whatsoever, the community of Greater Fulton avoided being relegated to history’s sidelines once again and took their rightful seat at the table, right beside the founders of Stone Brewing Company. That’s an accomplishment to which we can all raise a glass.

*Corey Lane serves on an advisory board for Virginia Local Initiative Support Corporation, a community development nonprofit heavily invested in Fulton.

Photo Credit: Scott Strimple, CinemAerial Visuals