The Best Economic Development Websites of 2022

Published: Monday, May 9, 2022 | Tags: best economic development websites, economic development websites, EDO Websites

Are you searching for inspiration for your economic development organization website? If so, you have come to the right place. Each year, we showcase the best EDO websites that stand out from the crowd. What makes a site outstanding? Innovation, design trends, and user experience come into play when deciding which sites are truly the best in class. Without further ado, here are the top 10 economic development websites of 2022.

Table of Contents

Share Member Testimonials: Sioux Metro Growth Alliance

Sioux Metro Growth Alliance has a beautifully branded website with a homepage that boasts a hero slideshow of images, call-to-action grid boxes, featured news, and fun geometric design elements sprinkled throughout the page. There is also a testimonial slider of members’ positive experiences from being a part of this economic development organization. Adding social proof to your website is so important because it shows the credibility and benefits of your organization to prospective members.

Add a Members Center: International Economic Development Center

The International Economic Development Center (IEDC) is a nonprofit, member-based organization–the largest of its kind–with more than 5,000 economic developer members. One of the foundational elements of IEDC is to be the number one worldwide economic development resource center for expertise and knowledge. Offering a robust member center was a must for this website.

In this designated Member Center, IEDC members can log in to their account using a single sign-on and easily register for upcoming events, webinars, and courses. There are also exclusive offerings such as the part think tank and part network called the Economic Development Research Partners (EDRP). IEDC’s Member Center also has a Membership Directory and ED Now with the latest news, trends, and happenings for all things economic development-related. Having member-focused content, resources, and tools visible on your EDO website show prospective members the benefits of joining your organization.

Highlight Demographics Using Animation: The City of Milford

Showing economic, workforce, population, the housing market, transportation, and infrastructure demographics on your EDO website is a must. But, you might be wondering where this information should be featured. A great place to showcase a high-level overview of information is on your homepage.

The City of Milford uses an animated counter to show a demographic overview of the population, median household income, medium property value, and employed population. This is key information for businesses looking to relocate or open up shop in your region. By displaying this front and center on your economic development website, you can promote these demographics and link to more detailed information, including key findings, surveys, and studies elsewhere.

Introduce Board Members: One Spartanburg, Inc.

Some of the greatest champions of your economic development organization are your board members and committee members. These people, and their businesses, are advocates and examples of the success and growth in your region.

One Spartanburg, Inc. does a great job showing who its board members are and highlighting their skillsets and service interests. On the Find a Board Member web page, visitors can also search by keyword, skills, or interests and directly email the member to connect. This is an excellent way for business owners interested in moving to the region to connect with like-minded professionals.

Use Video to Show Your Region: Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance

The Greater Fort Lauderdale area is a desirable place to live and work with access to the beach and the city; residents can truly get the best of both worlds. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance captures the essence of this region with looped videos playing on the homepage of ways to work and play in Broward County. Site visitors can get a feel of the community and culture of this South Florida region with these short clips before scrolling through all the great content and data on the Alliance’s website.

Provide Resources and News: Restore Your Economy

IEDC created a supporting website called Restore Your Economy as a one-stop-shop for economic developments regarding disaster preparedness and response, economic resilience, and a crisis toolkit for navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. This site features the latest news around these topics, as well. While all disasters and crises are unavoidable, there are efforts that regional areas can make to provide permanent protection and preparedness. This site was created to fill that gap and support economic developments in times of need to better support their community and region.

Utilize a Silent Salesman Tool: Clarksville Industrial Development Board

Clarksville Industrial Development Board’s website has a very clean design with great use of white space and bright branding color used strategically across the website. This economic development also uses a silent salesman pop-up to promote its Fact-Sheet with demographics and regional data for the Clarksville-Montgomery area. Implementing this tool allows this EDO to capture site visitors’ information and share the valuable resources they have created.

Promote Site Selection Resources: Economic Development Council of St. Charles County

EDC of St. Charles County has an incredible amount of site selection resources on its website. The Community Overview page gives a great rundown of the overall region, the talent pool, and business investment in St. Charles County. This page also has a left-rail navigation that website visitors can easily navigate through all of the valuable site selection resources. Each of these pages has various design elements that supplement the content, such as dropdown drawers, data charts, image grid boxes, and more.

Create a Captivating Homepage: Minneapolis-Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership

Websites are often the first impression a person will have of your organization. This is a great reason to ensure you have a very wow-worthy site with a great user experience. Greater MSP checks both of these boxes with its beautifully branded and user-friendly site.

As you scroll down the homepage, there are resources for startups, information on attracting and retaining talent, business investment opportunities, and so much more. This content is displayed with fun branding colors, pop-up content, and calls to action. There are also key economic data displayed front and center on the homepage, which shows the annual gross regional product growth, amount of venture capital, and net migration of specific demographics.

Focus on the User Experience: Lubbock Economic Development Alliance

Lubbock Economic Development Alliance has a very visually-appealing website with bold fonts, fantastic imagery, and grid box overlays. This site has a great focus on the overall user experience. For example, right below the hero image slider, on the homepage is a place for visitors to select if they are a site selector, job seeker, business owner, or business professional looking for specific information (there is a dropdown with 11 different categories). Depending on what the user chooses in those two categories, they will be directed to content on the site that best fits their need. This feature is a great way to help users navigate your EDO’s valuable content.

Ready for a website redesign?

We hope you enjoyed the best economic development websites of 2022 and felt inspired by the design, functionalities, and elements on these sites. If you are interested in integrating any of these features onto your EDO’s website, please reach out to us, and someone from our team will be in contact with you.