Evolution of a feature story

The news: A group of automotive companies and a local community college will hold a grand opening ceremony for a new training facility The standard (boring) press release template: JACKSONVILLE, FLA. -- Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET), Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. (TMS), Dupont Performance Coatings, Filterworks USA and Florida Community College (FJJC) will hold a grand opening ceremony for a new 9,301-square-foot-facility, $9 million automotive training facility on Thursday, February 12, from 11:00 AM – 12:00 p.m. at the downtown Jacksonville campus. The media-friendly, results-driven lead: JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- There is a critical shortage in the number of mechanics who understand the complex, integrated electronic systems installed in today’s vehicles. To reduce the training gap, a group of automotive companies have established a unique partnership with Florida Community College to build a new 9,301 square-foot, $9 million facility at the downtown Jacksonville campus. A grand opening ceremony will be held on Thursday, February 12 from 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Very important note: it is a MYTH that the only way your company name will be included in an article is if you cram into the first sentence of your press release. On the contrary, the release will more likely become fodder for a business listing than a great feature story people will read. In this press release, I don’t list the company for which I have written the release until the second paragraph: The state-of-the-art facility has been jointly funded by Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET), Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. (TMS), Dupont Performance Coatings, Filterworks USA and Florida state grants. The outcome: The release generated television coverage on two major networks, as well as print features in the local major daily and business weekly. The following is an electronic transcript of the article that appeared in the Jacksonville Business Journal: