News, Updates, and Happenings at Our Firm
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Hello,
Workforce! Most every client of ours is struggling with it. Some have shifts that are partially unstaffed while others have shuttered programs because they cannot find anyone to work in them.
You will read in this issue how leaders in the human services profession have come together to advocate for long-term solutions to a labor shortage that has reached a breaking point.
Given the tremendous competition for talent, it is more important than ever for organizations to differentiate themselves. The people considering jobs in your organization are searching online to see what has been written or said about it. Building a strong media and public presence helps your organization grow, not just by making patients, clients or customers aware of what you do, but by enticing prospective employees to learn more.
What are you doing to communicate your strengths to a selective workforce? As always, let us know how we can help.
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David Ball
President & Founder
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CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: WITH ONE VOICE,
HUMAN SERVICES ORGANIZATIONS ADVOCATE FOR WORKFORCE SUPPORT
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The COVID-19 pandemic caused havoc in all corners of the economy, creating labor shortages in many industries – from long-haul truckers and Uber drivers who are key cogs in the supply chain and transportation network, to workers in restaurants and hotels who are vital to the recovery of the hard-hit hospitality industry. Everyone is hiring, job openings abound, applicants are scarce. The impact has become acute and particularly painful in one sector that relies on the human touch.
Four trade associations representing the human services profession joined forces to call attention to the staffing crisis in Massachusetts that is affecting the programs and services for thousands of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as behavioral health needs. In an op-ed piece published in CommonWealth Magazine, the leaders of the four groups – the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers, the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, Children’s League of Massachusetts, and the Providers’ Council – urged the Legislature to make long-term, structural investments in the sector’s workforce, by raising wages and covering some educational debt.
The Worcester Business Journal explored the issue during the summer, publishing an in-depth news story and a related editorial that put a finer point on the problem.
The collaboration of the four trade associations ensured a unified voice calling out for greater public investment in human services. This was apparent when the Boston Globe took a lengthy look into the matter and printed a page-one story in the well-read Sunday edition.
“Nearly every sector in the state is experiencing labor shortages,” the Globe reported. “But in these mainly nonprofit human services jobs, the effects are far-reaching.”
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Emerson Hospital President and CEO Christine Schuster penned an opinion piece for CommonWealth Magazine calling on policy makers, fellow health care leaders and the broader society to address emotional well-being as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. In the piece, she offered four concrete steps for improving the behavioral health system.
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“We are changing the paradigm of how rare and ultra-rare diseases are treated,” Rich Horgan, founder of Cure Rare Disease, said in a Q&A with Gaming.net, a news site that tracks the video gaming industry. In the interview, Horgan covered his family history, including his brother’s battle against Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and how his nonprofit biotech has engaged with the online gaming community to help raise money for a novel genetic treatment. Also, Axios mentioned Cure Rare Disease’s “Game for Cures” fundraiser in the news site’s Gaming newsletter. Cure Rare Disease also was featured by the E.W. Scripps Company media group in 20 metro TV markets.
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Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities make gains through regeneration, and Geoffrey Anatole is one of the sparks breathing new life into Brockton. Last summer, his South Shore Property Management unveiled plans for a six-story 64-unit apartment building adjacent to the downtown commuter rail station. The project made headlines in the local Enterprise newspaper and the Boston Business Journal, and Anatole was a guest on Bloomberg Radio’s “Baystate Business” show.
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Small grants, big help. That’s the story of the Fred Gaspari Fund and the mini-grants issued by human services agency Advocates to support families of individuals with disabilities, as told by the MetroWest Daily News.
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UTM:Healthcare has been plugging away in the remote patient monitoring segment of health care. The Hudson, N.Y.-based company, part of YouThisMe, recently upgraded its app technology platform to allow providers to track time spent monitoring patients and support third-party billing for their services.
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David Ball Elected President of PRBI
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David Ball was elected president of PR Boutiques International (PRBI), a global collaborative network of independently owned boutique public relations firms.
He leads a diverse slate of new executive committee and board members from PR firms in locales ranging from Chicago and Los Angeles to India and Latvia. Ball Consulting Group has been a member of PRBI since 2017.
In September, Ball teamed with PRBI’s vice president, Julia Labaton, on an article titled “Rise of the Boutique PR Firm” for O’Dwyer’s magazine. He also joined PRBI’s “PR Insider” podcast as a guest with host Joy Scott to talk about best practices in conducting a town hall.
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Crisis PR Lesson from "Succession"
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David Ball’s expertise in crisis management was recently featured in PR News. The thought leadership piece provided a crisis communications lesson from HBO’s popular drama series “Succession,” noting that threats rarely work as a PR strategy against media outlets that are about to publish a negative story. Tackling bad news directly, promptly and transparently is really the best route to take.
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Ball Consulting Group Lights the "Lamps"
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Ball Consulting Group received a 2021 Lamplighter Award from NESHCo, the New England Society for Healthcare Communications.
NESHCo judges honored our firm with a Gold Award in the Excellence in Writing category for an op-ed piece about the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the nursing home industry in Massachusetts that was published in CommonWealth Magazine, and was one of the top-read pieces in 2020.
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Alex Villanueva Wins PR Club Striker Award
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The PR Club of New England honored our Account Manager, Alex Villanueva, with its Bell Ringer Striker Award, an annual award that recognizes PR professionals who have demonstrated a love of the field, a dedication to their career and a superior work ethic. We could not agree more!
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Ball Consulting Group’s new capabilities presentation provides an overview of our services as well as examples of the high-impact results that we have generated for our clients.
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