On Monday (Sept. 24), the White Center Chamber of Commerce launched its new website – visitwhitecenter.com – with nearly nary a rat in sight, at least on the main page (there is a blurb about Rat City on this page).
As many Readers may recall, there was some controversy when the chamber floated screenshots of its first draft, which showed a Rat climbing up the right side of the page, along with the phrase “Kick it in Rat City” (read our previous coverage here).
The revised website highlights approximately 240 businesses and various organizations in White Center, and serves as a community resource with an events calendar and news feeds from local media sources.
“The website design is fabulous and the decision to include all businesses and organizations in White Center is the Chamber’s way of saying thank you for making this neighborhood a unique and fun place to be,” said Mark Ufkes, President of the White Center Chamber of Commerce. “The Chamber is here to help our local economy grow and promoting our businesses through this website does just that.”
The main feature on the website, the business directory, is divided up into five categories: eat, shop, play, services, and organizations. Each business has its own pop-up page that displays pertinent information such as the business name, address, hours, location (via Google Maps) and languages spoken. If applicable, there are links to social media sites such as Facebook and Yelp, and to a business’ website. The capability to translate the entire website into 10 different languages is available as well.
“The website looks and feels great. I am excited to be a part of this project in collaboration with the White Center Chamber of Commerce and Noise Without Sound,” said Sili Savusa, Executive Director of the White Center Community Development Association. “The impact of this website is more than just marketing and promotion of our business district, but it is about the power of collaboration and shared vision of our community.”
In 2012, the White Center Community Development Association and the White Center Chamber of Commerce collaborated on a grant application to the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development’s Only in Seattle program for the website. Kathi “George” Wheeler, owner of Noise Without Sound, was contracted to develop and design the website. “White Center is my home and developing a website that incorporates everyone in the community was the direction I wanted to go,” said George.
Check it out for yourself here: www.visitwhitecenter.com.
