Jerry Keenan took over as president of the New Jersey Alliance for Action during the middle of the pandemic. He had plenty of items on his to-do list, including a few long overdue, once the state returned to normal.
Today, Keenan and his team are showing off the fruits of a rebranding campaign. The centerpiece of that campaign is a new, fully responsive website. The site is loaded with new tools for members and the public alike. Keenan’s team also revamped its logo, social media channels and newsletters to better engage with its members and the public.
“Our members are great partners and they helped us recognize the value in updating and modernizing our communications platforms and strategies,” Keenan said. “If you’re not working in real time to communicate what’s happening and celebrate your members, you will fall behind. And we heard our members about that.
“Today, we are committed to getting out front and staying out front — to serve our members and to serve every person who lives here, works here and visits New Jersey.”
Keenan joined the alliance 26 years ago and spent 20 years as executive vice president before taking over when Phil Beachem retired. In fact, Keenan is only the third president at the alliance, which is celebrating its 50th year of service in 2023.
The alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting economic growth and infrastructure development across the region. Keenan and his team host about three dozen events every year, typically well-attended breakfast events with speakers and a first look at information that often shapes and influences major development projects across New Jersey and the region. Some recent topics covered by these events include offshore wind energy, hospital construction, transportation funding, water and utility infrastructure, and education facilities.
Keenan said the alliance’s new website, allianceforaction.com, features a new event platform, which makes it easier to search and register for alliance events, which continue to grow in popularity and attendance.
“We’re really excited about the event tools on the new site,” Keenan said. “The features are incredible. Our members and other event attendees will experience the upgrades, starting today. Even the photo galleries provide a much richer experience.
“We were due for a lot of these updates, and, yes, we are taking some big swings,” Keenan said. “We believe these updates also will help us grow membership and attendance at our events, which provide people access to information they can use to strengthen their business, and invaluable networking time.”
The redesigned website, Keenan said, also will allow his team to better showcase the stories and achievements of its members, who include business, labor, government, utility, education, health care and professional leaders.
The site is the latest in a series of year-long rollouts, all built around the alliance’s new slogan,
“Building a Better Future.”
One of them was hiring Ashley Rogers as public information manager earlier this year. Rogers, according to an alliance press release, “brings a passion for promoting the alliance’s mission and telling the stories of members. She is responsible for the various communication initiatives that engage stakeholders and promote the organization’s objectives. Her work appears in real time from events the alliance attends and promotes.”
Another improvement, per the press release, was redesigning the alliance’s eagle logo to better “reflect the organization’s bold and modern identity. The newly redesigned logo features a more dynamic representation of the iconic eagle symbol. The modernized logo captures the spirit of progress and innovation while paying homage to the organization’s rich history. The sleek design reflects the alliance’s commitment to adaptability and forward-thinking.”
Keenan also emphasized the alliance’s commitment to real-time storytelling on social media platforms and various newsletters. He wants his team to use those tools to highlight the contributions of its members to New Jersey’s economy, environment and quality of life.
“Today,” Keenan said, “is about introducing the new website. But we’ve done an incredible amount of work in the first six months of this year. For example, our LinkedIn page is growing by leaps and bounds every month as we do more to post and engage with our audience. And beyond that, there’s just a better feel and rhythm to what we’re doing.
“Everything,” Keenan said, “is just more intentional.”
