Scolding Regulators for the Press Of It

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By: Doug Bedell

Here's one of the more remarkable press conferences we can recall. Doug Henry, a factory owner in Lebanon, Pa., called reporters into his plant this week to blast environmental regulators who, he charged, are hampering his business. "I want to run this company," Henry declared, "I don't want to constantly contend with bureaucracy and regulatory compliance."

Henry Molded Products shapes recycled paper and cardboard into packaging material, flowerpots, and other such items.

Whether you consider the in-plant press conference smart public and/or governmental relations, or not, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFID) did. Kevin Shivers, the NFID's Pennsylvania director, stood with Henry at the in-plant press conference and told The Lebanon Daily News: "We had an opportunity to learn a little bit from Doug, a very successful entrepreneur and manufacturer here in central Pennsylvania. His willingness and ability to invest his own capital helped to create jobs and to grow the economy here in the Lebanon area, but every day he is facing the uncertainty because Washington and their endless threat of more regulation are impacting the cost of your company, and that's a problem."

We imagine that Henry and Shivers will be discovering whether the regulators were moved by such from-the-heart, and cash box, sentiments.

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About the Author

Doug Bedell has a background in journalism and PR and is the owner of Resource Relations LLC in Central PA, focusing on organizational and crisis communication. He’s the community manager of SimplyFair.net, a social network on fairness. On the Web, Doug’s at www.ResourceRelations.com. On Twitter, he’s @DougBeetle.

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