Public Affairs Representatives Celebrated for Bolstering Exchange Community Relations

In 2022, store associates around the world helped share the Exchange relevancy story with their local communities through the Public Affairs Representative (PAR) program.

PARs work directly with their local Public Affairs Offices (PAOs) to share Exchange news so the military community at their installations knows how the Exchange supports service members, families, retirees, Veterans and civilians who work on installations. PARs participate in an annual competition that tracks how many Exchange relevancy stories are shared through their installation’s official and third-party media channels.

The 18-year-old program, modeled after an Army program, saw its first significant restructuring in 2022. A Brand Representative of the Year contest was added to track all coverage of local Exchanges that wasn’t generated from headquarters.

That hard work generated more than 7,500 published stories related to the Exchange on multiple platforms and media outlets in 2022—an increase of 5% over the prior year. Exchange good-news stories are shared with executives via the weekly media coverage update.

Kathy Kuhlman, a logistics associate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, ran away with the lead in the top two competition categories, earning two $1,000 Exchange gift cards and a coin and personal note of thanks from Exchange Director/CEO Tom Shull for her efforts. Kuhlman worked hand in hand with her local PAO to keep Wright-Patterson AFB shoppers in the know about the value and benefits the Exchange provides.

Kathy Kuhlman, a logistics associate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, ran away with the lead for Public Affairs Representative of the Year and Brand Representative of the Year, earning two $1,000 Exchange gift cards and a coin and personal note of thanks from Exchange Director/CEO Tom Shull for her efforts

“This was a great year at the Wright-Patterson Exchange with so many vendors and events for the community,” Kuhlman said. “Being part of the PAR program has fueled my desire to promote the Exchange and all the opportunities it provides.”

As a military spouse, Kuhlman’s been on both sides of the Exchange benefit, as a shopper and an associate.

“The Exchange family is just that: You feel like family,” Kuhlman said. “We’ve all endured everything that goes along with being military spouses or members ourselves. Through it all, the Exchange has been the one thing I could count on being at our next base. Providing the opportunity to have a steady career was such a comfort.”

While Kuhlman took the PAR of the Year and the Brand Representative of the Year titles, 11 other awards were handed out to PARs in both categories. The winners each received a gift card and Director/CEO coin. The other top PARs were:

PAR of the Year:

• Second place: Sue Antonello (Fort Rucker)
• Third place: Vy Tran (Travis AFB)
• Honorable mention: Chris Litch (Grafenwoehr)
• Honorable mention: Vincent Lesesne (Yokota AB)
• Honorable mention: Chris Jonczak (Fort Meade)
• Honorable mention: Nerissa Skol (Luke AFB)

For 2022, PARs not only competed for PAR of the Year honors but also Brand Representative of the Year. The PAR of the Year contest awards PARs for their work in getting news stories generated by HQ PA shared in installation channels. The Brand Representative of the Year contest tracks all other coverage of local Exchanges that is not generated by HQ. Previously, the two categories were combined under the PAR of the Year contest.  The other top representatives in this category were:

Brand Representative of the Year:

• Second place: Chris Litch (Grafenwoehr)
• Third place: Sue Antonello (Fort Rucker)
• Honorable mention: Michael Casserly (Colorado Springs)
• Honorable mention: Alex Dewberry (Fort Bragg)
• Honorable mention: Mr. Choe, Ho-Chol (Korea Southern)

PARs are indispensible in strengthening the bond between Exchanges and the local communities.

“The Exchange story resonates most at the local level, where our shoppers can see their Exchange at work in the community,” said Sandi Lute, Exchange senior vice president, brand marketing. “The Exchange is often the heart of a military community, where people gather to find a taste of home. That’s the Exchange story we want to tell—and we couldn’t do it without the hard work of our amazing PARs.”