The contract to rebuild and update the MRED website (www.mred.biz) was approved by the Moniteau County Regional Economic Development Council Board of Directors Wednesday, June 15, at Burgher Haus, in California.
The contract with Callis Integrated Marketing, Sedalia, was approved at the noon meeting following a presentation of the proposed plans for the website work by Cliff Callis. The project, estimated to cost between $10,000 and $12,000, will begin as soon as it can be scheduled. It is expected to take six to eight weeks to complete.
As approved, the project will include utilizing the WordPress content managing system and use of search engine optimization to bring the site to the attention of the search engines. The plan is to provide three mobile-optimized website design options, maximize space utilization and enhance the use of imagery/photographs for promotion of the county.
The company is already under contract to develop a plan to take advantage of the high speed internet which has become available due to the installation of fiber optics by Co-Mo Connect.
Before the vote to approve the contract was taken, Kenny Kunze, Presiding County Commissioner, said, "We need to get with it."
Norris Gerhart, California mayor, said, "But we need to understand that we need to keep the work up."
The vote was taken and the contract was approved. Chairman Mike Kelley said, "We're the closest we've ever been to making (the MRED) work."
Callis said, "We hope to create a market program for the region to help entice business to locate, relocate or expand in the Moniteau County region."
After the meeting adjourned, Consultant Bob Donnelly, Missouri Technology Business Development Ecosystem, LLC, Branson, said, "The integration of the website design work with the work being done on economic development efforts, including the surveys being sent out is the most effective way to go."
Although there was a delay in sending out the surveys, they have now been sent out and some reported receiving them. It is hoped tallying the survey results can begin soon.
There are two surveys one for businesses and the other for households. The surveys ask about the availability, satisfaction with, and use of the internet in the county. They have been sent to 2,200 households and 230 businesses. Other questions involve how the internet is utilized by the user, and what the resident or the business expects to achieve from the internet. Hopefully, the surveys will help identify how users access the internet and whether business personnel would find it useful to have training available on the internet. Hopefully the information can be captured to analyze the data and display the current use and the future needs of the users, both home computer users and business users.
The results will be tallied to determine how most Moniteau County residents and businesses access the internet, what the typical download speed may be and whether the speed meets the current and future needs of county households and businesses.