Princeton Times

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September 21, 2012

Brady: Website upgrade may attract new business

By MATT CHRISTIAN Princeton Times

PRINCETON — Mercer County took a step this week toward presenting a united front for businesses looking to relocate to the area.

Newly elected Chairman of the Development Authority of Mercer County Frank Brady explained to the members of the authority that it was very difficult to find information on development opportunities in Mercer County.

Using a laptop to access several websites, including the Development Authority’s, Brady said most of the sites were outdated and contained inaccurate or obsolete information.

“If you watch this video on the Development Authority’s website,” Brady said. “You’ll see that we need to update it. It’s still got that progress is being made toward making St. Luke’s into a mental health facility. Well, that’s already done.”

When people see that a website is not being updated regularly, Brady said interested parties stop visiting it on a regular basis, hurting Mercer County’s chances at attracting businesses within its borders.

Development Authority Executive Director Janet Bailey explained that the website was not updated regularly because it costs the Development Authority money every time it changes.

Bailey estimated that it cost between $25-$100 every time the site is updated.

Brady indicated that he and Bailey were working together to educate her on how to provide updates without having to pay for it.

None of the information about the website sit well with Mercer County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Executive Director Marie Blackwell.

“That’s just sad,” Blackwell told the group.

As the group moved toward finding a way to provide a unified information front for Mercer County, a problem emerged. Information on the websites provided by West Virginia state agencies also contained information that was incorrect.

For example, the Development Authority’s website and two state websites each list different telephone numbers for the Mercer County Commission.

Princeton-Mercer County Chamber of Commerce CEO Robert Farley suggested that the responsibility for providing a one-stop information source should rest with the Mercer County Commission.

“You have an organization that is supposed to be the leader or runner of this county,” Farley said. “They can’t even come to meetings. If you don’t have those things going for you, then it’s hard for us to do our job.”

Brady ended that discussion by encouraging Development Authority members to look through the websites dedicated to the county and see what they thought needed to be changed and/or improved.

— Contact Matt Christian at mchristian@ptonline.net.

 

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