Since the Blue Mountain Station concept was formulated in early 2008, the project has received some great press coverage. The list of print, web, and radio media that have published stories on the project is substantial:
| • Site Selection Online | • Grocery Headquarters |
| • Whole Foods Magazine | • Seattle Business Magazine |
| • Trade & Industry Development Online | • Washington Manufacturing Alert |
| • Puget Sound Business Journal | • Organic Products Retailer |
| • Tacoma News Tribune | • Whole Health |
| • Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business | • Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce |
| • Oregon Public Broadcasting | • Dayton Chronicle |
| • Food Engineering | • Capital Press |
| • Bellingham Technical College | • AgInfo.net |
| • Cargo Business | • AgriTimes Northwest |
| • Tri-City Herald | • Lewiston Tribune |
| • Business Expansion Journal | • Waitsburg Times |
| • Walla Walla Union Bulletin | • Blue Mountain News |
| • Spokane Journal of Business |
This kind of exposure is significant for several reasons, the most obvious of which is the desire to get the Blue Mountain Station concept in front of businesses interested in locating at the processing park. But there is an important secondary significance: the exposure this kind of press gives our small, rural community made up of many businesses that count on tourism as an important factor in their business revenue.
A city like Dayton has a very limited promotion budget – for either tourism or business marketing. We can’t afford to spend the kind of money it takes through traditional advertising to really put a town “on the map.” But the value of the exposure that magazine, newspaper, and website writers can give a community’s promotion effort is immeasurable!
“Money can’t buy the kind of results a story in a magazine can bring to a promotion effort,” agrees Michael Davidson, President/CEO of Tourism Walla Walla, the lead marketing agency for Walla Walla’s successful tourism effort. “The Port of Columbia has done a marvelous job getting the word out about Blue Mountain Station, which in my estimation will help the region overall.”
It definitely takes time, coordination, and effort to get the attention of the press, but it’s worth it. We hope that the effort we’ve put forth to gain press coverage for Blue Mountain Station will extend its impact to the greater community.
By the way…thank you to all who attended the Blue Mountain Station public presentation in February. Valuable feedback on design style and public use elements were gathered and are being incorporated into the site plans. A Master Plan should be ready for release in the coming weeks.
