One of the ways ARSA and other organizations with public relations interests build relationships with the media is providing additional information on an article they wrote –journalists often report on the same subject and may revisit their notes for the next article. Creating this relationship and providing information to the press not only solidifies your company as a go-to source on the subject, it also helps ensure you dictate how your story is told time and time again.

Last week ARSA spotted an article in a regional newspaper about the growth of the aviation maintenance industry and jobs in central Florida. We were very excited to see such a terrific and positive story – precisely the goal of the association’s Positive Publicity Campaign – but the article lacked one critical element: aviation maintenance industry economic data specific to the state.

I emailed the author to tell her about ARSA’s various economic research reports detailing the global MRO market, the impact of bilateral aviation safety agreements, and the industry’s economic and jobs footprint in each state. Specifically, I stated that Florida is the fourth largest state in terms of aviation maintenance employees, with 18,873 workers, and the industry has a total annual impact of $2.162 billion on the state’s economy.

She responded, “[I] wish I would have had this last week! I’ll keep that in mind for future articles concerning the industry.”

The aviation maintenance sector isn’t the easiest for outsiders to understand. Our technicians don’t refurbish engine parts in a garage next to McDonald’s, and our leaders are rarely written up in Forbes. But together we keep planes safe and dependable, and we bring home food to our families. That’s something the public can relate to, and that’s a story you can tell.

When you’re talking to the press or federal, state, and local lawmakers, point them to your state’s industry economic impact numbers. They’ll be as happy as ARSA that you did.

Josh Pudnos is the communications manager at ARSA. He holds a master’s in Political Management from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s in Political Science & History from Texas A&M University.