Florida’s Great Northwest, the regional economic development organization for the Florida Panhandle, announced the launch of its new website: FloridasGreatNorthwest.com. Featuring content that highlights the region’s business advantages and key assets, the website will help build awareness and generate opportunities for business growth in Northwest Florida.
“The new website is a resource for business executives and site location consultants to utilize for their relocation or expansion plans. It is critical that we put our best foot forward and make it easy for them to realize that a Northwest Florida location is the competitive solution,†said Bruce Vredenburg, Florida’s Great Northwest board chairman and president of Hancock Whitney, Pensacola & Emerald Coast markets.
The website is filled with key images to showcase both the business and personal benefits of Northwest Florida, which help push perceptions that the region has strong business and industry in addition to its tourism accolades.
Filled with hero images, vivid maps, and robust regional and county data, the website has just enough facts and figures to inform but not overwhelm. The navigation is user-friendly and the website can easily be viewed on mobile devices.
“In the site location process, your website is a key differentiator. It can quickly eliminate your community or can keep it on the short list. It is important that information is easily accessible,†said Shannon Ogletree, marketing committee chair of Florida’s Great Northwest and executive director of Santa Rosa Economic Development. “Moreover, our new website is a lead generator. Technology has been embedded to allow us to see who has been visiting the website and what pages they have been viewing. Our marketing campaigns will push visitors to the site and because of this technology, we will be able to follow up and have the opportunity to turn interest into action, which could result in competitive projects and jobs for the region.â€
The website shows the cohesiveness of the region and elevates its competitiveness. “Our communities work well together and leverage each other’s strengths. Companies that locate and expand here will find a welcoming community that goes well beyond county lines,†said Kim Wilmes, President & CEO, Florida’s Great Northwest. “Our website is the region’s newest tool to support our business, government, economic development, educational and community leaders in their efforts to grow Northwest Florida’s economy.â€
Visit the new website at FloridasGreatNorthwest.com
History of Past Florida’s Great Northwest websites:
In December 2010, Florida’s Great Northwest and UWF announced its Career Pathways portal - nwflcareerpathways.org. The site was funded by a $180,000 Department of Labor grant, issued by Florida’s Great Northwest. Other partners in the initiative include Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Florida State University, North Florida Community College, Workforce Escarosa, Workforce Development Board of Okaloosa and Walton Counties, Chipola Regional Workforce Board, Gulf Coast Workforce Board, Workforce Plus and North Florida Workforce Development Board. It doesn’t appear to have been updated in years.
In September 2013, Florida’s Great Northwest launched NWFLaerospace.com to attract aerospace industry to the panhandle. Maybe they knew that the City of Pensacola and FloridaWest were negotiating with ST Aerospace. The site is now dead and links to main website.
In June 2014, a new website has launched designed exclusively to promote the 13 industrial sites in Northwest Florida currently undergoing Gulf Power’s site certification program, Florida First Sites. The website was last updated June 2017.