CASE STUDY

“The expertise and professional commitment of Scott Westcott and the Turn Two Team was essential to bringing Erie County’s first-ever community college over the finish line.”

Carl Anderson III, former chairman Erie County Council

Erie County Community College

A Community-Changing Advocacy Campaign

The Problem

More than a quarter-century has passed since a new community college was established in Pennsylvania. So the supporters of a new Erie County Community College knew that an all-out advocacy and media relations effort would be essential to gain public support and approval from the politically divided state Board of Education.

The Solution

Turn Two helped build a grassroots campaign and robust local and statewide earned and paid strategy that focused on:

Media Relations: With a focus on building relationships with national journalists and elevating the voices of community foundation leaders through op-eds and interviews.

Aggressive advocacy: Public events, building a robust newsletter list, social media and creating a Change.org petition, and engaging all sectors of the community 

Optimizing op-eds: Strategically placed op-eds from high-visibility community leaders, as well as those who would directly benefit from the community college, proved to be key tools to swaying public opinion

Nearly 600 students currently benefit from tuition-free education at Erie County’s new community college.

Results 

In July 2020, the State Board of Education approved Pennsylvania’s 27th community college by a decisive vote.

A former high school is now home to the Erie County Community College campus, where more nearly 600 students are enrolled, far surpassing preliminary estimates.

In May 2023, the college graduated its first-ever class with Gov. Josh Shapiro delivering the commencement speech.  "You have quite literally charted a new course and paved the way for generations of EC3 students to come," Shapiro told graduates.

Pennsylvania’s Board of Education

approved

the state’s 27th community college by a decisive vote in July 2020.