Lyons said the website also has information about living in the city as well as quality of life, workforce development, Middletown Regional Airport, COVID-19 and business resources. In addition, there is access to GIS maps, city demographics and incentive programs available.
“It’s a big overview,” she said. “We want to whet their appetite. It has a little bit of everything and hopefully, it will lead a site selector or a developer to talk to us,” she said.
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A microsite is an auxiliary website with independent links and address that is accessed mainly from a larger site, according to city spokeswoman Shelby Quinlivan.
Quinlivan said the cost to develop the microsite was $27,300 but includes ongoing management and copywriting, strategy development, etc. The new website was created by Golden Shovel, a company that specializes in creating websites for economic development organizations.
“We are excited to have a dedicated webspace to share the opportunities employers and businesses can have in Middletown,” Lyons said. “This is a robust information hub that will be a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to do business in the city.”
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Lyons said the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its related social distancing and other restrictions have hampered her in getting acquainted, renewing acquaintances and building relationships as she is familiar with the area as she worked in Butler County in previous positions as well as being a former candidate for the West Chester Twp. Board of Trustees.
“There are tremendous opportunities in Middletown — especially downtown, the (Towne) (M)all (Galleria), the riverfront, the (Middletown Regional) (A)irport, the Oakland project and Renaissance East,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to set the stage. I’m a creative thinker and it’s a challenge to think outside of the box. I believe we can create jobs in a COVID-19 or a post-COVID-19 world.”
She said another strength was that Middletown has completed revisions of its housing, zoning, development, downtown and other master plans in the past few years. “Now we can decide on actions,” she said. “The city’s location and sites provide lots of room for diversity of thoughts.”
Lyons said she has been assessing economic development projects underway; touching base with consultants, developers, attorneys, real estate brokers and finance experts. She also said she appreciated how connected the city is with its department heads and their weekly staff meetings to share information on what’s going on throughout the city.
“People throughout the region area excited about Middletown,” she said. “We’re going to be focused on jobs and investment.”
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