Economic Development Group Launches Web Page

But the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. has launched its Web page www.metrodenver.org, with great fanfare. Why?

Because the Web page, developed for a bargain $88,000, is the first step in bringing as many as 100,000 new jobs to the local economy in the coming years.

When site selectors, the professionals in charge of advising companies on relocating and expanding in cities, visited the city last fall, they made it clear that after they Google and Yahoo! cities, the next stop is the area's Web site.

Often, they are disappointed.

But Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., says he believes his group's Web page is the best in the nation. For one thing, it is has more data than most people realized they need. It has almost a gigabyte of space, almost 10 times the size of a typical chamber Web page.

It has a whole section on real estate. Richard M. Calhoun, who heads CB Richard Ellis' Denver office, penned an article about the commercial market for the inaugural real estate page. The page also links to the Denver Metropolitan Commercial Association of Real Estate and NAIOP. One thing Clark insisted on was making it easy to maneuver from anywhere on the Web page.

For example, from the real estate page, with one click of the mouse, you can enter areas with information about subjects such as demographics, workforce, taxes, infrastructure, international trade, incentives, the Denver economy, rankings, quality of life, white papers and interactive maps. You can also search a news center, the Metro Denver EDC, Denver profiles, relocation and expansion opportunities, as well as live and work alternatives.

The site will be constantly updated, Clark says.

And the site addresses one of Clark's pet peeves. He hates going on sites where it is difficult to find the phone number. So under "Contact Us," the phone number is prominently displayed.