Campaign trails lead to cash

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by Paul Schreiber|ret||ret||tab|

SBJ Reporter|ret||ret||tab|

pschreiber@sbju.net|ret||ret||tab|

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Getting out the vote means getting out the message and local businesses benefit from the effort. |ret||ret||tab|

With federal, state and county offices being contested Aug. 3, as well as a number of ballot issues and amendments, local businesses that handle campain-related work saw revenues rise.|ret||ret||tab|

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Political prints|ret||ret||tab|

Beyond climbing a soapbox, the oldest form of getting the message out is print. |ret||ret||tab|

Working with candidates such as U.S. Congressman Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, his son and Missouri's Republican governor candidate Matt Blunt, and Sen. Sarah Steelman, R-Rolla, Webster County Print Co. in Marshfield produced a slew of yard signs, business cards, color brochures, hand-held fans, flyers, letterheads, envelopes and push cards, said Veleta Smith, co-owner of the 24-year-old company.|ret||ret||tab|

Smith said the company conservatively does $15,000 worth of campaign and cause-related business in an election year.|ret||ret||tab|

In abundance this year were 4-by-9-inch information push cards, said Judy Miller, owner of Perfection Printing & Design. Card costs, depending on quantity and color, run from $300 for a 2,500-card order to more than $1,000 for a 10,000-card run, she said.|ret||ret||tab|

Doing repeat business with previously elected politicians, such as Rep. Mark Wright, R-Springfield, has increased sales.|ret||ret||tab|

"Now, four years later, these guys are all running for re-election, so we're just sort of revising what we worked on four years ago and printing some more stuff," Miller said.|ret||ret||tab|

Corrugated plastic yard signs were on the docket for Sign Pro, said manager Dean Martin. The company produced about 400 signs for two different candidates, he said, netting the firm about $2,000 in sales.|ret||ret||tab|

"We normally don't do much political (work)," Martin said, adding that politically related revenues come in at 5 percent or less of the store's total receipts.|ret||ret||tab|

Though this year has proved fruitful at D.H. Smith Co. on Commercial Street, co-owner David Smith has learned not to bank on political business.|ret||ret||tab|

"We have ups and downs," he said. "Some years we don't have anything. But this year, the word got out a couple of counties away."|ret||ret||tab|

D.H. Smith landed political clients in Webster and Douglas counties, Sedalia and St. Louis, Smith said. The company did about $4,000 in political business this year.|ret||ret||tab|

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Mass mailings|ret||ret||tab|

One advantage to local businesses involved in promoting campaigns or issues is the ability to double dip from both sides.|ret||ret||tab|

"We had candidates in both parties" and in both Greene and Christian counties, said Thomas Barr, president of Ozark Mailing Service.|ret||ret||tab|

Barr didn't have a final tally on campaign-related revenues, but the firm did $7,723 worth of business for the Vote Yes For Secure Energy campaign committee, according to a Missouri Ethics Commission Expenditures and Contributions report.|ret||ret||tab|

The decision to get the vote mobilized on energy issues was a bonus for AAA Mailing Service, as well. Per another Missouri Ethics Commission statement, the firm billed Rate Payers for Affordable Utilities the committee opposing City Utilities' $515 million bond issue proposal to build a new power plant $8,805 for mailings.|ret||ret||tab|

All told, AAA Mailing did about $50,000 in political mailings this year, said Bert Thompson, co-owner.|ret||ret||tab|

"Every two years we do a lot of political mailing," Thompson said. "It's maybe a 2 percent or 3 percent jump in revenues."|ret||ret||tab|

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Web world|ret||ret||tab|

Cyber campaigning has come a long way since 2000, said Paul Seale, president and CEO of Alien Media Inc., a Nixa-based Web site producer. While the cost to produce a Web site varies by what bells and whistles are included, a Web presence can be established for as little as $500 to $1,000, Seale said.|ret||ret||tab|

For those with more cash, however, the sky's the limit. Seale's lone political client on the Web is House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, whose site has a lot of custom database work, he said. Features like a calendar of events, photographs, press releases, downloadable sections, issue information, policy discussions and candidate endorsements increase the price tag, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

While not disclosing what Blunt's campaign paid for its Web site, Seale said a site similar to Blunt's would run about $10,000.|ret||ret||tab|

The proliferation of candidate Web sites has come a long way, Seale said. Four years ago, George W. Bush and Al Gore had national campaign sites. Today, politicians seeking office at all levels are employing them, he said, including Blunt's opponent in Congress, Jim Newberry.|ret||ret||tab|

Springfield Web development company The Amplified Group is handling Newberry's Internet design. The company is hoping to parlay its primary election work into jobs for November's general election, said Josh Abbot, co-owner and Web developer.|ret||ret||tab|

"We're pretty sure it will," Abbott said. "If a candidate ever needed to look good, it's now. If they don't look the part, nobody is going to want them playing the part."|ret||ret||tab|

But Southwest Missouri State University political science professor Joel Paddock is unsure of the successes of political Web sites.|ret||ret||tab|

"It is not clear how effective candidate Web sites are in reaching the mass public," Paddock said. Citing Howard Dean's success in raising money via the Internet, Paddock said Web sites' greatest value was in reaching political activists to either get them working for or contributing to a campaign.|ret||ret||tab|

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