Bospar Repositions Investment Fund as Community Ally
Revitalization Unlimited, an investment fund manager, and its Manufacturing Corporation of America (MCA) division, launched a joint initiative to restore historic buildings and legacy manufacturing facilities in underinvested American communities. Their mission went beyond purchasing buildings and factories; the team wanted to rebuild American communities.
Challenge
To accomplish these goals, Bospar needed to build the client’s credibility and carve out a space in the competitive real estate and manufacturing sectors, establishing the company as the go-to investor for historic properties. This required overcoming two major obstacles — in addition to fierce competition, as a new entity, it had zero name recognition.
The market also presented challenges. In the commercial real estate market, many property owners were eager to sell but cautious of investors who might demolish these historic structures. There is also strong community sentiment to preserve buildings, making them functional again for various purposes.
The manufacturing side of the business faced its own hurdles. Family-owned manufacturing businesses often lack incentives to modernize, and challenges like rising costs, talent shortages and fluctuating demand compound the problem. These owners also hesitate to sell when they are unsure if buyers will preserve local jobs or close the operations.
Strategy
Our campaign strategy was informed by research that found Americans see manufacturing and historic preservation as crucial to the country’s cultural identity and the economy. They broadly view manufacturing as the backbone of the U.S. economy, a sentiment that contrasts with the struggles facing legacy manufacturers in the country. These insights informed our messaging, aligning the client’s mission with national economic and cultural priorities.
Bospar leaned into the client’s unique value proposition – preserving historically significant real estate and revitalizing legacy manufacturing businesses. The B2B media relations and social teams built a multi-faceted strategy that tackled the campaigns on several fronts:
- Localized and targeted storytelling that framed the company’s efforts as cultural preservation, not just real estate.
- Press releases positioned the company’s purchasing of manufacturing sites as a job-saving investment focused on the community.
- Thought leadership that aligned executive insights with trade and economic policy shifts, securing media coverage around U.S. manufacturing revitalization stories.
- Inserted the client’s executive voice into high-level economic conversations through newsjacking of recent policy shifts and stories about U.S. manufacturing and supply.
- Launched content on social media platforms that aligned with relevant policy themes and industry trends to broaden engagement.
These efforts combined to create a story built on data and sentiment analysis, positioning the client as a trusted partner for economic growth and cultural preservation that empathized with prevailing public sentiments.
Campaign Results
Bospar applied precision and storytelling expertise to a number of the client’s projects throughout the United States. We generated significant national and regional media coverage through a multi-market strategy that spotlighted high-impact redevelopment, historic preservation, and manufacturing investment stories. The Bospar team also successfully inserted the client’s perspective into stories about the tariffs and other recent related news stories.
FOX 4 Kansas City (Dillon Seckington reporting) aired a feature on the Garment House restoration, which was syndicated across Yahoo! and MSN. The Kansas City Star (Chris Higgins reporting) covered the project with additional syndication via MSN. Further reinforcing the story, Startland News ran a feature syndicated on Newsbreak, while Kansas City Business Journal (Thomas Friestad reporting) provided deep-dive coverage in both online and print formats.
We drove momentum in Florida when Eman Elshahawy of the South Florida Business Journal covered the client’s Miami investment, followed by Axios Miami and its MSN syndication (Martin Vassolo reporting). These media wins ignited buzz in the local and regional real estate scene.
Bospar’s targeted outreach on historical business preservation, tied to the company’s acquisition of the DeGraff building in Colorado Springs, resulted in a FacilitiesNet (Annie Celentani reporting) exclusive about the company.
Steve Austin, company founder and CEO, spoke to the real estate investor community about historically significant real estate on the Commercial Real Estate Pro Network.
In the manufacturing space, Bospar elevated visibility of client growth and M&A activity through coverage in Business Observer and its Newsbreak syndication (Mark Gordon reporting), Gulfshore Business (Nancy Semon reporting), and Talk Business & Politics. Additional regional exposure came via the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, as well as Arkansas Business, Manufacturing.net, and Digital Journal (Tim Sandle reporting). Leadership changes were also featured in CoStar (Tony Wilbert reporting) and Manufacturing.net, as well as a personnel spotlight in the Houston Business Journal.
Finally, Bospar secured thought leadership coverage on broader policy and economic topics with two features by Helen Atkinson in SupplyChainBrain, exploring tariff policy implications for global supply chains. This expansive media strategy successfully positioned our clients as key players in urban redevelopment, manufacturing resurgence, and economic policy commentary.
We positioned executives as experts by pitching commentary on timely topics. Because of our team’s strategic newsjacking, reporter Jeff Reinke included company founder Greg White’s commentary on the proposed tariffs in his article, “Trying to Predict Trump’s Unpredictable Trade Policies,” which appeared in eight outlets, including Design & Development, Food Manufacturing, Industrial Distribution, Manufacturing Business Technology and Medical Design & Development.
Bospar’s rolling thunder of media relations established coverage that supported the client’s expertise in identifying real estate investment opportunities. Key coverage highlights and strong business outcomes:
- Built momentum to strengthen the client’s market position as a preserver of local history and a job creator supporting communities.
- Established coverage that supported the client’s expertise in identifying real estate investment opportunities.
- Raised the profile of Steve Austin and Greg White as industry leaders who can speak to a variety of business topics.
“From day one, Bospar has been an invaluable partner — helping us establish our brand at launch and then seamlessly pivoting to support our growth. Their strategic PR outreach secured coverage across the top business, industry and regional media, capturing our messaging and positioning us as a key player in historic real estate and legacy manufacturing. They continually find new, creative ways to generate visibility and consistently exceed our expectations.”
— Steve Austin, CEO, Revitalization Unlimited
