We've Moved!

Visit lilja.com/blog for our latest Lilja content.

Lilja Celebrates Earth Day

“A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.”

—John James Audubon

This past Earth Day, we continued our Lilja tradition and took an afternoon to clean up the ponds and grasses that surround our office. We ended up with eight bags of trash, among them an array of interesting items. Not only is the view from our office much improved, but we’re confident the wildlife that calls these ponds home are enjoying our housecleaning efforts.

And those interesting items we found? They ranged from a volleyball (apparently owned by someone named Reese), a hair salon sign, a photo of a newborn baby, and a sticky note with a cryptic message about a Hollister shirt. Being the storytellers we are, we immediately started coming up with tales surrounding these objects and how they ended up in our pond. Perhaps we’ll start dabbling in fiction writing soon?

We are proud to have had our clean-up efforts featured in two local papers – Eden Prairie News and the Eden Prairie Sun Current!

Big Warehouse on the Prairie

Murphy Warehouse Company will bring a “touch of green” to its new logistics campus in Eagan. The company will transform the campus to meet LEED and ENERGY STAR certifications. Partner tenKsolar will install solar panels on the roof – something that four other Murphy Warehouse buildings already feature.

With the new solar array, the company expects to generate 320kW of power annually – enough to meet the annual power needs of 42 Minnesota homes. Murphy Warehouse will be the third largest solar power generator in Minnesota, with excess power generated fed back into the grid.

“It's the right thing to do. Besides, being Irish, we've always been green,” Richard Murphy, president and CEO of Murphy Warehouse, notes with a smile.

During a recent visit to Murphy Warehouse's Minneapolis headquarters, we had the chance to tour the native prairies around the company's innovative storm water system. Though late in the season, the prairies, pictured, were still blooming brightly, attracting dragonflies, butterflies and bees. Since the company began planting native prairies around its warehouses, Murphy estimates they have saved nearly $950,000 in lawn maintenance costs. How's that for sustainable ROI?

Celebrate the Fifth of July with Lilja's New Website

Happy Fifth of July, also known as “get back to work day” for those of us not taking vacation. The upside is that it’s a light week for most of us office workers, and an easy commute, too.

You may be wondering what to do with those extra five minutes you shaved off you drive time this morning, and we have the solution! Take some time to peruse Lilja’s new website! The new website encompasses all three areas of our business: public relations, Lilja LifeStories and Lilja Press.

So enjoy that air-conditioned office, a quicker commute and Lilja’s new website!  

-- Alicia

A big day for a (mostly)* introverted PR firm

Though we're aggressive in our pursuit of coverage for our clients, it isn't often that we receive coverage ourselves. So imagine our surprise that the stars lined up today, and we have TWO stories about our firm in the media!

The first is a lovely profile of Linda Tedford in the business section of the Star Tribune. The profile details Linda's interesting background and passion for storytelling.

The second is an op/ed penned by yours truly about our annual cleanup of a nearby pond on MinnPost.

Whew! Big day, indeed.

Best regards,

Mary Lilja

* The non-introvert among the rest of us is Linda!

A facility reborn

In late 2010, Lilja client United Properties announced it would undertake the historic renovation of Ford Center, an office building just north of downtown Minneapolis.

The 1912 building was home to the first showroom and vertical assembly plant for Ford Motor Company in the Twin Cities. Model Ts regularly rolled off (or should we say dropped down?) the assembly line.

We invited the Star Tribune in for a hardhat tour of the building as the final details took place, and to see the painstaking measures taken by United Properties and RJM Construction to ensure its historic preservation.

The result was a beautiful story about the renovation and history of this building.

Photo courtesy of United Properties

Meet Lilja's newest staff member: Linda Tedford

We are happy to announce that Linda Tedford has joined our team in the newly created role of vice president. Linda brings 25 years of major and planned gift fundraising to Lilja as the firm seeks to broaden its services to nonprofits and increase its LifeStories work.

First job: I was a counter girl at Cathay Chow Mein on 54^th and Nicollet when I was 14.

Favorite book: The Short History of a Prince by Jane Hamilton is probably the novel I will always consider my favorite. Hamilton's prose is beautiful, painful and full of compassion for her characters.

Something surprising about yourself: I worked as a singing telegram to earn money for law school!

Favorite quote: Be the change you wish to see in the world. – Mohandas Gandhi

What you enjoy most about your work: Being part of a small team of highly talented and creative people to help our clients tell their stories. Honoring the heart of a story, whether it is for a press release or a client's personal story, is among the most wonderful things we do at Lilja!