Community Building

One of the things that sets Communications Pacific apart is our distinctive community building practice.

What is community building? We sometimes call it “community relations on steroids,” but let’s be a little more specific. Community building is the art of bringing together people and ideas, minimizing conflict and building relationships that foster a “community trust bank.” Community building emphasizes intensive communication at a personal level, whether at the grass roots or with community leaders and officials.

In order for a business or project to succeed in Hawai‘i, local communities must be comfortable with it and also with the process by which it is introduced and developed. Our community building practice builds bridges of understanding between a client and the communities and groups the client’s activities might affect. We thus help clients resolve issues that might otherwise stall or derail projects.

As community builders, we don’t just talk; we listen and point the way to ground common to clients and communities whose objectives might differ. We build on that common ground, creating partnerships and relationships.

We are comfortable in this sensitive environment. Members of our staff are involved community leaders who have held paid and volunteer positions in local and state government, on community boards and Native Hawaiian foundations, in cultural and ethnic organizations, and in business and professional associations.

Thanks to community building, CommPac has earned a reputation for bringing about positive, mutually beneficial civic, cultural, environmental and economic outcomes that gratify clients and communities alike.

Our community building practice assists clients by:

• Providing information about community issues that may affect their projects.
• Identifying and introducing clients to key stakeholders and decision makers with whom they need to build relationships and work.
• Creating materials and managing communications to tell their story credibly, creatively and consistently to community members and leaders.
• Coordinating communications among all members of the client’s team.

Under the rubric of community building, Communications Pacific provides these and other services:

• Coalition and relationship building
• Community relations
• Enculturation programs
• Futures planning
• Government relations
• Grass-roots campaigns
• Public affairs
• Research
• Strategic philanthropy