PR up in the air at Lockheed Martin
November 05, 2001 by Julia Hood
FORT WORTH, TX: Lockheed Martin is reviewing its internal PR teams
following its successful bid to build the Joint Strike Fighter
(JSF).
Currently, there are no plans to retain a PR agency to help handle the
enormous contract, which is valued at about $200 billion, but
"that doesn't mean we won't need to use (an agency) from time to time,"
conceded Sam Grizzle, director of program communications and media
relations. "We sometimes reach out to consultants, but it's just too
early now."
Grizzle reports to Mary Jo Polidore, VP of communications and head of
the department. There are three sites - in Fort Worth, TX, Marietta, GA,
and Bethesda, MD - staffed with PR divisions.
The PR manager of the JSF program is John Smith, and he will initially
have a team of two people working for him at the Fort Worth site, where
the program is headquartered.
An offsite meeting is planned to look at the communications needs for
the program. Grizzle said the company might eventually hire additional
PR staff, but he emphasized that it is equally likely that PR staff
employed in other divisions would be moved to work on the JSF team.
The company has also set up a website at www.jsfjobs.com to provide
information to the many job hunters eager to join the team.
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