A chance encounter and a donation create international exposure for recycling firm

January 05. 2012 1:53PM

A chance encounter and a donation create international exposure for recycling firm

Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson, left, with Nicole Montecalvo, director of public relations at Bayshore Recycling Corp and namesake of donated drone. (Courtesy Bayshore Recycling Corp)

The phones at Bayshore Recycling Corp., in Woodbridge, would not stop ringing on Christmas.

An unmanned drone donated by the owners of the company — Valerie Montecalvo and her family — to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had helped prevent a Japanese whaling fleet from killing and harvesting whales near a major whale sanctuary. Sea Shepherd, famous for being the subjects of the television show "Whale Wars," had given credit for the drone to Bayshore on their website in the announcement.

"We were so surprised that on Christmas, we have this slew of press about the drone, and it came from completely out of nowhere," Montecalvo said. "We were getting e-mails and telephone calls on our business phone from around the world from people thanking us for helping Sea Shepherd."

Montecalvo said she never expected any exposure from the donation, despite the organization's high-profile television show, because she assumed any news about the drone might jeopardize the ability to use it by Sea Shepherd. The drone, named the Nicole Montecalvo after Valerie's daughter, was donated in May 2011.

Montecalvo said the family decided to support the Sea Shepherd mission after the flagship, the Steve Irwin, docked at the Woodbridge facility on the Raritan River during the company's 2010 Earth Day celebration.

"It was quite a big coincidence," Montecalvo said. "The day before our event, we were asked if we could serve as the port of entry for the Steve Irwin to come into the United States. … During our event, here comes the Steve Irwin down the Raritan River to our dock with customs waiting."

Montecalvo said she's not sure of the impact of the exposure, but Rich Tauberman, executive vice president of corporate communications for MWW Group, said companies that receive an uptick in exposure and media coverage should use their normal channels of communication to let stakeholders know what is going on.

"I think there's a number different vehicles you can use to spread the word and to build the reputation of the brand, but also emphasize the good things the company is doing," Tauberman said. "We're firm believers that a company's reputation is very important in terms of gaining customers and gaining new employees … corporate social responsibility is an important facet for the big companies we work with and the small companies."

Tauberman also said, when faced with an increase in recognition and press requests, a proactive approach for a company would be to think about which media outlets that matter to clients, employees and the local community when deciding which requests to fulfill.