Suzanne Michaels is the principal and owner of Suzanne Michaels Communications (SMC), a Public Relations
consulting firm representing clients in El Paso and southern New Mexico, specializing in:   

Media relations 

Community involvement 

Public meeting organization 

Specific services include developing strategies for community outreach, working with the media to communicate with the public; coaching client staff in on-camera and public speaking presentations, writing and distributing brochures and press releases, organizing press conferences, media events, managing media interviews.

Specialty services include DVD concept development, script writing, and production. In a bilingual environment, SMC can facilitate instantaneous English/Spanish interpretation, and written English/Spanish translation.

Clients:

South Central Solid Waste Authority
(Las Cruces, NM) 

The SCSWA is the city/county agency responsible for managing solid waste and recycling in Las Cruces and Doña Ana County. Since 2008, SMC has served as public relations consultant to the SCSWA, engaging the public, developing positive media coverage to keep recycling and solid waste issues on the forefront through bilingual outreach with local radio, print, television, and public appearances.

In 2010, the Las Cruces Sun-News began publishing Recycling Connections , a weekly article submitted by SMC, providing a constant source of recycling and solid waste information for the southern New Mexico community.

Also in 2010, the SCSWA introduced single stream recycling to Las Cruces and Doña Ana County, was named 2010 Solid Waste Authority of the Year by the New Mexico Recycling Coalition (NMRC), and launched “Get Caught Recycling!” a public relations campaign in conjunction with the NMRC to engage and educate the community about recycling.

Suzanne Michaels presented “Recycling Education and Outreach - How to Get Media Coverage” at the 2010 New Mexico Recycling Conference and Awards Presentation.

Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority
(El Paso, TX)

The CRRMA is El Paso’s transportation agency, created in 2007 to move regional transportation solutions forward as quickly as possible. The CRRMA is a partner in El Paso’s $1 billion Comprehensive Mobility Plan, and will be developing eight major transportation projects in El Paso over the next few years. SMC developed the strategy for bilingual community outreach and education by working through the media, distributing bilingual brochures and providing powerpoint presentations to civic organizations and schools.

Camino Real Environmental Center, Inc
(Sunland Park, NM)

Camino Real is an award winning regional landfill, power plant, and recycling facility. Camino is the only landfill in the region involved in producing electricity from trash (waste-to-energy) by capturing methane gas produced in the natural decomposition of organic materials we all throw away as municipal waste.

Since 2007, SMC has taught waste-to-energy at Camino Real Landfill to classes of all ages, and helped educate the broader community to the operations of the landfill.

Waste in Place
(Las Cruces, NM)

This Keep America Beautiful curriculum was implemented on six campuses in the Las Cruces Public Schools in August 2009 to encourage students to recycle, not litter, and introduce them to complex issues involved managing a community’s solid waste.

SMC assisted with Recycle Rallies in the schools which taught what was recyclable and what was not; and SMC worked with the media to educate the broader community to the Waste in Place Program. By the end of the school year, the six initial schools had blossomed to seventeen LCPS schools with recycling bins on their campuses open not only to students and staff, but the surrounding communities.

Upper Valley Traffic Study
(El Paso, TX)

The success of this high profile and highly contentious traffic study hinged on connecting with affected residents, primarily through Neighborhood Associations, to seek common ground, explain the project, and take concerns back to the Walter P Moore engineering firm and City staff who oversaw the project. Additionally, SMC public outreach included developing a complex direct mail survey and survey result tabulation, providing support for four public meetings, responding to residents’ concerns and media inquiries. In the end, consensus was built among residents in support of the Study, which was adopted unanimously and in its entirety by El Paso City Council in May 2009.

SWANA (Solid Wastes Association of North America) Member
NMRC (New Mexico Recycling Coalition) Member

Contact Information:

Suzanne Michaels Communications
A Public Relations Firm
(915) 588-0082 phone
(915) 842-8421 fax
suzanchor@aol.com
www.suzannemichaels.com