EFI has never hired a PR firm. The company's media presence over three decades has been earned through project execution, industry contribution, and the willingness to speak publicly about technology and market realities that others in the biogas space avoid. From trade publication features in the 1990s to utility media events and project press conferences, EFI's press coverage reflects the evolution of both the company and the biogas industry itself.
Early Coverage: Building Credibility in Environmental Technology
When Dennis Shanklin founded EFI in 1993, the biogas industry as we know it did not exist. Environmental geosynthetics was an emerging field, and covered lagoon digesters were an unfamiliar technology to most livestock operators. Early media coverage focused on explaining the basic technology: what a covered lagoon was, how geosynthetic liners worked, and why capturing methane from agricultural waste made environmental and economic sense.
These early articles appeared in niche trade publications that reached environmental engineers, geotechnical consultants, and the small community of professionals working on agricultural waste management. The coverage was technical, detailed, and aimed at an audience that evaluated claims based on engineering data rather than marketing language. That early editorial relationship with trade publications set a pattern that continues today: EFI provides technical substance, and the publications cover it because it adds value to their readers.
National Hog Farmer: Reaching the Swine Industry
National Hog Farmer has been one of the most important media channels for EFI's market development in the swine sector. The publication reaches tens of thousands of hog producers across the US, and its editorial coverage of environmental technology, manure management, and regulatory compliance directly influences operator decisions about waste management infrastructure.
EFI's coverage in National Hog Farmer has evolved over the years from introductory technology explainers to project-specific features highlighting operational installations at named facilities. Project coverage in producer-focused publications is particularly valuable because it provides social proof: when a hog producer reads about a neighboring operation's successful covered lagoon installation, the technology moves from abstract concept to concrete possibility. The publication's willingness to cover EFI projects reflects the company's track record of installations that perform as specified and operators who are willing to be referenced publicly.
IFAI Articles: Technical Recognition from the Geosynthetics Industry
The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) -- now the Advanced Textiles Association -- publishes technical content for the geosynthetics industry. IFAI coverage of EFI's work represents peer recognition from the broader geosynthetics community. These articles focus on engineering innovation, material selection, installation methodology, and quality assurance testing -- the technical foundations that differentiate professional installations from commodity cover products.
IFAI features have highlighted EFI's contributions to installation best practices, welding quality control protocols, and material specification standards for covered lagoon applications. This technical-community recognition matters because it validates EFI's engineering approach to an audience of fellow professionals who understand the complexity of large-scale geosynthetic installations. When an IFAI article features EFI's work, it is not marketing -- it is the geosynthetics industry acknowledging excellence in the field.
Branham Farms and Emerald Dairy: Project-Specific Coverage
Some of EFI's most impactful media coverage has been tied to specific project installations. The Branham Farms and Emerald Dairy features generated coverage because they represented successful implementations at recognizable operations with operators willing to speak publicly about the results. These articles provided the combination of technical detail and real-world testimony that moves operators from interest to action.
Project-specific coverage serves a different function than technology overview articles. A general article about covered lagoon digesters educates the market. A project-specific article with named operators, specific cost figures, and measurable results converts the educated market into active prospects. EFI has consistently facilitated this type of coverage by identifying operators who are willing to share their experience and connecting them with journalists who cover the agricultural and environmental technology sectors.
Santee Cooper Media Day: Utility Partnership Visibility
The Santee Cooper Media Day event represented a different kind of media engagement: a utility-organized press event that highlighted the relationship between rural electric cooperatives, agricultural operations, and biogas technology. Santee Cooper, South Carolina's state-owned electric utility, organized the media event to showcase biogas-to-energy projects in its service territory, with EFI's installations as featured examples.
Utility-organized media events are valuable because they bring mainstream media attention to biogas projects that would otherwise receive only trade publication coverage. Local television, newspaper, and radio coverage of the Santee Cooper event reached audiences -- consumers, policymakers, community members -- who would never read National Hog Farmer or IFAI publications. This mainstream visibility helps normalize biogas technology in communities where livestock operations are located, which can reduce the social license challenges that sometimes complicate project development.
Press Conferences and Project Announcements
EFI has participated in press conferences and formal project announcements for landmark installations, particularly projects with public-sector involvement or significant environmental impact. These events typically involve state or local officials, utility representatives, and environmental agency staff alongside EFI leadership and the facility operator.
Press conference coverage generates a different type of media asset than trade publication features. It creates date-stamped public records of project milestones that can be referenced in future regulatory proceedings, carbon credit verifications, and business development materials. When EFI references its project history, the press conference coverage provides independent, third-party documentation that the projects were built, commissioned, and recognized as significant by public officials and industry stakeholders.
Three Decades of Earned Media
EFI's media history reflects a company that has been present and active in the biogas industry since before the industry had a name. The coverage spans trade publications, mainstream media, utility communications, and digital channels. It has evolved from basic technology explainers in the 1990s to project case studies in the 2000s to market analysis and policy commentary in the 2020s.
The consistency of coverage over 32 years matters more than any single article. Companies that appear in the press once or twice might be doing marketing. A company that appears consistently across three decades of industry evolution is doing the work. EFI's media presence is not a communications strategy -- it is a byproduct of building 500+ systems and being willing to talk about what works, what does not, and what the industry needs to do next.
“We have never written a press release in our lives. When you build enough systems and they work, the publications call you. That is the only kind of media coverage worth having.”
-- Marc Fetten, CEO, EFI USA
