As vaccinations begin to accelerate, the months ahead present among the most profound and crucial communications challenges for business leaders. To help answer the challenge, we asked the corporate affairs team at Ferrara, a Chicago-based sweet snacking company, to share some of their learnings and best practices to date, especially considering their vast operational network of 20 locations and some 6,000 employees.

“Our efforts initially began by connecting with others, including WBC’s food and agriculture working group, the Cook County and Will County departments of health, and a number of connections on LinkedIn,” explained, Sarah Kittel, Vice President, Corporate Affairs. With a vast physical footprint, including employees working various shifts, Ferrara hosted many on-site vaccine efforts. “The way we looked at providing access to the vaccination is that you can’t require it if you can’t acquire it,” Sarah said. While we aren’t mandating vaccine, we went above and beyond to make it accessible and to socialize the importance of it.”

Sarah also shared that they’ve heard from a number of companies interested in learning about Ferrara’s vaccine rollout and communications. “We know that other companies are exploring how to best communicate this,” she said. “It’s too important for both public and private sector organizations to get right. The rate of recovery hinges on how quickly we can all work together to get the coronavirus under control.”

Click this link for the following Ferrara company communication assets:

• Pre-vaccination informational half sheet
• COVID 19 Myths vs. Facts, English & Spanish
• COVID-19 Vaccination Poster, English & Spanish
• What to do after you receive the vaccine, English
• What to do after you receive the vaccine, Spanish

WBC developed a flyer with links to publicly available communication assets from the City of Chicago’s Dept. of Public Health. Click here.