State-of-the-art Sites and Buildings application launched with site
Fort Wayne, Ind.
(June 23, 2010) — The Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance (Alliance) announced today the launching of its new website at
www.TheAllianceOnline.com. The website will contain a first-of-its-kind Sites and Buildings database and will serve to significantly enhance the organization's social media presence.
Located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Alliance is a non-profit organization that works to enhance the base employment of Allen County. Companies interested in expanding or locating in the area contact the Alliance, which then connects them with a project manager who can assist in finding incentives, locating a site or building, working with local, regional and state agencies, or answering any questions related to the community. The Alliance works with growing companies from project start to finish without charging for services.
The new website will serve as a major point of contact for those interested in the Alliance's services. With additional links and embedded feeds, social media communications with the organization will be greatly improved. Access to the Alliance Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and FlickR accounts will be easily available through the new site.
The centerpiece of TheAllianceOnline.com is the new Sites and Buildings application, which is hosted on the Alliance website, rather than by a third party as is standard for most economic development (ED) websites. Sites and Buildings is a commercial property database that lists available buildings and land for businesses looking to relocate or expand operations. The Alliance is the first in the region to commission and launch a Sites and Buildings application of this caliber. The application was developed in Fort Wayne by Cirrus ABS (Cirrus), a company that is a nationally recognized expert in economic development websites and has won numerous awards for its work. The Sites and Buildings application, and several other ED-specific web applications created as part of this project, will be marketed to the entire United States under the brand name
LEDO Suite (Local Economic Development Organization Suite).
"This project has been years in the making," said Marla Schneider, chief information officer for the Alliance. "We began assessing our needs and wants out of a commercial property database in 2008. In August of 2009, we engaged Cirrus to create an application that would be specifically designed for the needs of economic developers. Cirrus is in our own backyard and they also have a unique niche in working with economic development organizations which made it easy to communicate any changes or revisions. Together, we've developed a superior system that is competitive in today's market."
The Alliance and Cirrus ABS have also integrated report building capabilities across the entire website, including Sites and Buildings. Many ED websites today utilize third-party Sites and Buildings tools that are “off-site” applications and work independently from the rest of the website. This tool will allow site selectors, Alliance staff and anyone browsing the website to build a professionally branded report with information tailored to their interests. This report can include available properties from the sites and buildings database and other information including incentives available, area industries and community data. This integrated report building capability is another feature distinctive to the Alliance website. The website also boasts many other features critical to ED organizations including an interactive map, community data, core industry profiles, news resources and business incentives information.
Matt Nickols, CEO for Cirrus ABS added, “We are fortunate to have such a forward thinking and innovative economic development organization right here in Fort Wayne. The Alliance has challenged us to address many issues facing ED organizations in today’s Web-driven business climate. As a result of our working together, we have created a unique solution that will have a major impact on the economic development industry, nationally and potentially even internationally. This is because we are putting advanced capabilities in the hands of smaller economic development organizations at an affordable monthly price.”
About the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance
The Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance is an organization that furthers the base employment of Allen County. It is supported by Allen County, the City of Fort Wayne, the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority. For more information on the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, visit www.theallianceonline.com.
About Cirrus ABS
Cirrus ABS is a full-service Web developer, marketing resource, and business consultant founded in 1995. The firm specializes in deploying NetCentered business strategies, its proprietary approach to helping companies leverage the Internet and Internet-based technologies to best achieve their business goals. From its base in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Cirrus ABS has worked with hundreds of diverse enterprises across the country. They range from Fortune 500 companies, such as Toyota and Intel, to numerous small- and medium-sized businesses, both local and regional. Today, Cirrus ABS also has an office in Indianapolis, enabling the firm to extend its NetCentered business solutions to a broader clientele. Among the many services Cirrus ABS provides are website creation, Web application and software development, search-engine optimization, traditional and Web-based marketing, new-business development, and business process innovation. For more information on Cirrus ABS, visit www.cirrusabs.com.