What a ribbon cutting press release needs before the paper runs it

A ribbon cutting matters to the owner, the chamber and the people who show up with scissors. To a local editor it is one of several similar releases that week. Whether yours runs usually comes down to whether the reason it is news appears before the reader has to look for it.

Find the news before you write

Ask the owner a few questions first. How many people will work there? Was the building empty, and for how long? Is it the first of its kind in town or in the county? Did the owner grow up here? Is there an investment figure they are willing to share?

One concrete answer to any of these is your lead. Without one, the release is an announcement, and announcements are easy to skip.

Put it in the first paragraph

The first paragraph should carry who, what, where and when, plus the news element. "Hearth and Honey Bakery will hold a ribbon cutting Oct. 10 at 10 a.m. at 112 Main St., bringing 12 jobs to a building that sat empty for four years" tells an editor everything they need in one sentence.

Use real quotes only

A quote from the owner is worth including if they said it. Clean it up lightly for length and grammar and leave the meaning alone. If you want a quote from the chamber, write it, but have the person it is attributed to approve it before it goes out. Never put words in the mouth of an official who did not say them.

Keep the standard format

Editors work fastest with the format they expect: a release line, a contact block, a plain headline, a dateline, the lead, the details, the quotes, practical information such as the address and hours, and a short paragraph about the chamber. Clever formatting slows them down.

Send a short note with it

The note you send with the release matters as much as the release. Keep it under a hundred words. State the news in one sentence, give the time of the ribbon cutting, mention that photos will be available, and offer to connect the editor with the owner. Address the editor by name.

If the news angle is thin, it is better to learn that before you send. Go back to the owner with one more question.

For the release and the note together, Civitas writes ribbon cutting press releases in the format local editors expect.