With the America’s Cup less than four months away, organisers are striving to ensure that the whole of Bermuda will be involved and stressing the benefits of a successful event.

To that end, America’s Cup Bermuda has reached out to a number of “Community Ambassadors”, The Royal Gazette among them.

Propelling the drive is Emperial Group, Inter-Island Communications and Bermemes who are making sure the Cup will involve “the community in relevant and meaningful ways through different communications channels,” said an ACBDA statement. The Royal Gazette is producing a four-page newspaper lift-out every Saturday featuring locals involved with America’s Cup while Bernews has profiled some of those who are working towards the event.

Emperial Group spokesperson Eugene Dean said: “The America’s Cup presents a great opportunity for our country. It has undeniably brought a lot of renewed energy to our tourism product and represents an opportune time for us to strengthen our economy and improve the Bermuda brand.

“We have all felt the stress and strain associated with our social and economic reality and, as a result, know that these have been extremely challenging times. We need work, we need hotels, we need new products and innovative ideas that generate enthusiasm and bring foreign capital to the island.”

He continued: “God helps those who help themselves, so we encourage everyone to take full advantage of the fact that we are hosting the America’s Cup in our country by engaging in entrepreneurial ventures or initiatives that help to ensure that the experience for locals and visitors is first class. While the event will come and go, as a country we own the experience and each and every one of us are in a position to engage this global catalyst to shape the legacy that it leaves behind.”

Inter-Island Communications owner and CEO Glenn Blakeney added: “We believe America’s Cup is great for Bermuda and we’re committed to providing our listening audience with in-depth information leading up to the event. Every Wednesday evening on Mark Burger Jennings sports programme we feature America’s Cup sports stars and every Thursday at 11.30am on Sherri J’s show on Magic 102.7 we feature a guest from America’s Cup to talk about what’s going into making this a huge success for Bermuda.”

Bermemes, a social media site, is putting their familiar local spin on the America’s Cup experience”.

The community communications alliance follows last week’s announcement that America’s Cup Bermuda has a working group of local business agencies, focused on connecting local business people with upcoming business opportunities. That group is hosting a series of public information sessions starting next Thursday, February 23 through to March 7.

ACBDA CEO Mike Winfield said: “The more that people know and understand about how the America’s Cup can impact the community, the greater the chance of those same people being able to make it work for them, economically and socially.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to work with these community groups, who we know will reach an audience that may otherwise not feel engaged by the America’s Cup experience.”