“You can’t imagine the communications complexities in a major railroad acquisition, which engages simultaneously with: legislators and regulators at every level of government; banks and financial markets at home and globally; customers large and small; unions; all communities through which tracks pass; media everywhere. With a sure grasp of nuances and needs, WHWG helped us respond to ever-changing challenges while keeping focused and on message.”

Marty Fiorentino: vice president, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, CSX Transportation, 1995-1999; currently president, The Fiorentino Group, Jacksonville, Florida.

As the new millennium approached, Conrail (the United States government entity, later privatized, for managing and operating assets of bankrupt freight railroads in the Northeast and Midwest) sought to divest its holdings to the remaining financially strong railroads in the region — CSX and Norfolk Southern.

We were already working with CSX on other issues. Management asked us to handle communications around the merger.

Before approving the client’s plans, regulators required clear and compelling explanations of how CSX’s role in the merger would serve the public interest. Rulemaking also required a strong show of public support.

CSX asked WHWG to revise its legal filings to make them consistent with the larger communications needs of the transaction.

Meanwhile, eliciting broad based support was complicated by the client’s lack of a reliable list of customers and the people to contact at them. Through a variety of strategies, WHWG identified most of the customer population— particularly smaller customers, who were of special concern to the regulators.

The firm contacted every customer of both railroads. We interviewed CEOs and other top officials and drafted letters specific to their companies.

In the end, regulators received more than 3,000 unique and personally signed statements on individual company letterhead.

The overall effort and degree of coordination required was enormous: speeches for the CEO; op-ed’s for local papers and national editorial pieces; testimony before Surface Transportation Board; producing FAQ’s and a message binder to provide continuity and discipline not only to CSX but to small local PR firms that we supported/led.

The transaction was approved.