Small Town in south-western Ontario, population 24,000
Situation
The job of building a municipal economic development website often follows a long, slow strategic planning process, especially in smaller municipalities with limited resources. The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury in southern Ontario, Canada, began to formulate an economic development strategy around 2005 and crafted their first economic development strategic plan in 2008.
Suddenly there was a need to put this plan into action by communicating the Town’s business goals and advantages to the world. That meant that the economic development website became a priority.
Challenge
Bradford West Gwillimbury was a quiet agricultural community for many years. In the 1990s, however, the town began to grow rapidly and attract a variety of industries. In 2007, the Town’s first economic development officer, Michael Disano was appointed and the launch of the new website fell under his many responsibilities.
The primary requirements of the Town’s Economic Development Website were identified as follows:
- Clearly articulate the advantages of Bradford West Gwillimbury as a location for succeeding in business.
- Develop an updated, engaging website that conveys the vigour and confidence of the local business community.
- Reorganize and increase the content to ensure that site selectors and prospective businesses can effectively make site location decisions.
- Make it easy for the Economic Development Office to quickly update the website.
 Solution
Yfactor studied the strategic plan, consulted with the Economic Development Office, referenced award-winning economic development websites and reviewed site selector decision making processes to develop the most effective content architecture.
The team identified the key differentiator for Bradford West Gwillimbury as a location for investment: its assured future for business growth. The Town has been designated as a center for business development by the Province of Ontario and the population is projected to double within 17 years.
This assurance of a strong economic future became the focus for the content of the new website as well as its design. The website’s visual design takes a down-to-earth directness that declares that this is a place for business.
The website relaunched with more than 100 new pages of text, charts, maps and images. It is all clearly organized to help viewers drill down to precisely the type of information they want. The site is fully enabled for bookmarking and sharing of information through social networks. Any words or images on the site can be changed or updated by any staff in the Economic Development Office on the fly.
Results
Launched on schedule and on budget in January 2010, www.gotobwg.ca has provided Bradford West Gwillimbury with a website that proclaims its vision for growth and its clearly defined business advantages. The site’s thematic content and design have given the Economic Development Office the means to unify the Town’s messaging in all forms of communication. Bradford West Gwillimbury’s competitive package is complete.
“Working in partnership with Yfactor over the last three years has helped move our marketing strategy from conceptual plan to tangible deliverables,” Michael Disano says. “Yfactor has ensured that the essential qualities that make Bradford West Gwillimbury a great place to locate are expressed in all our marketing materials ranging from the website to location maps, multi-page brochures and flyers.”
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