Development of a Marketing Web Site for the Local Economic Development and Marketing of Bulgarian Municipalities Project

FLGR has been working to the benefit of Bulgarian municipalities since 1995. The overall objective of all of FLGR s efforts is to improve the quality of life at the local level. Realizing the consequent importance of business recruitment, business retention and expansion, job creation, and the necessity of identifying alternative funding sources for the municipalities, FLGR is trying to support municipalities local economic development efforts.

Considering the Bulgarian environment, the insufficient experience in community promotion and negotiations with investors, the prior centralized economic development policy, and the need for aggressive steps towards the optimal utilization of municipal resources and the recruitment of national and international business, the Foundation initiated the Local Eco nomic Development and Marketing of Bulgarian Municipalities Project. The project, which features technical assistance from U.S. cities, involves 14 Bulgarian municipalities: Silistra , Montana , Pazardzhik, Gabrovo, Sliven , Blagoevgrad, Tryavna, Razgrad, Pana gyu rishte, Stara Zagora , Karlovo, Dobrich, Haskovo, and Pleven . All of these cities established the position of local economic development specialist in their municipal administrations. The people hired for these positions were trained, and will continue to be trained, in economic development models.

Many municipalities developed print versions of their municipal profiles during previous phases of the Bulgarian Resource Cities Program and are using them for various purposes. Each of the 14 municipalities participating in the Local Economic Development and Market ing of Bulgarian Municipalities Project has conducted a self-assessment, which describes the present business climate; workforce; education; geographic and natural resources; quality of life; infrastructure; investment opportunities; and available buildings and lots. These municipali ties realize that successful marketing depends not only on the compre hensive analysis of the community, but also the identification of the appropriate way to present the resulting information.

The development of a common marketing Web site was thus identified as a critical goal of the project.

While trying to establish contact with potential investors, the partners realized that the marketing process would be much more effective if information about the communities were summarized, organized, and published on the Internet. Considering the size of the Bulgarian market and the global trends in business relocation, the Bulgarian U.S. team of the Local Economic Development and Marketing of Bulgarian Municipalities Project decided that all 14 participant municipalities should be represented on one marketing Web site. The availability of a one-stop shop for current and dynamic information would make it easier for potential investors to make an informed decision.

The discussions on the name, design and technology of the Web site took several months and involved all partner municipalities, the U.S. partners, and information technology experts. The partners goal was to develop a Web site with a name related directly to its purpose, such as investbg, bgbusiness opportunities, or local investment. They selected www.invest.bg, a short, logical, and popular name for Web sites of this type.

The target group included investors in all manufacturing and service industries that were exploring opportunities for a greenfield operation or a joint venture with Bulgarian companies within the partner municipalities, as well as companies that have already located their business in Bulgaria and want to retain or expand it. One of the most important goals was to provide a comprehensive presentation of the business climate in Bulgaria , focusing on production and commerce development opportunities in priority industries. The Web site does not describe in detail the opportunities in each individual municipality, but attempts to generate interest that would result in a personal contact with the local economic development specialist of the respective municipality or with a representative of the Bulgarian Local Economic Development Partnership.

The Web site was developed in both English and Bulgarian, with an option of more languages, to provide for flawless communication of the information to the different users. The Web site is comprised of a general page on Bulgaria and individual pages of the participant municipalities. Maintaining the former is FLGR s responsibility, while maintaining the latter is a responsibility of the local economic development specialists in the respective municipalities.

The home page of www.invest.bg features a horizontal menu that is also available on the individual municipal pages. It provides information about the project team; news items; a business guide with information on major transport corridors, ports and airports, five-star hotels in the capital, working hours of business and financial entities, banks and lending institutions, Bulgarian trade representatives offices, and national market characteristics; a forum to discuss pres sing business-related problems; and a gallery with images from important events and sites.

A vertical menu is comprised of several buttons. The first one of these provides access to the pages of the individual municipalities. The Bulgaria button provides access to economic data about the country, such as growth, foreign investment, banking system, labor market, national business incentives, taxation, investment legislation, and infrastructure. A special place in this menu is dedicated to the Bulgarian Local Economic Development Partnership (BLEDP), as well as to links to business support organizations. The page features a search engine that allows searches by keyword. Special attention has been paid to the search for available buildings/lots by custom criteria.

The opening of the home page brings up Bulgaria s advantages and priority industries. A map shows Bulgaria s location relative to Europe and can be zoomed into more detailed maps. Brief information is provided under the map. The site also features a survey that can be amended according to events of the day. A special section is allocated for the latest economic news.

The pages of the individual municipalities contain information on:

Location, proximity to markets, climate, and population

Form of government and services provided by the local administration

Local taxes and fees

Workforce education , training , age, and employment

Educational system existing schools , universities , colleges , foreign language courses

Utilities gas, electricity, waste management and disposal

Communications information services, Internet service providers, phone companies, postal services

Transport system roads, railroads, access to highways, airports, and ports

Healthcare emergency care , hospitals , medical centers, and dentists

Culture cultural events and entertainment opportunities

Major companies information about foreign and local companies and local financial institutions

Relations with partner organizations

Available buildings technical specifications and prices

Available lots.

The horizontal menu, besides the buttons available on the home page, also includes a local business button. The button allows local companies to get registered on the page of the respective municipality and to publish their profile and future plans.

Each municipal page allows the upload of current local economic news and important business projects.

The foreground shows the advantages of each municipality and contact information for the economic development specialist. Every specialist can incorporate a survey in the site and track and analyze the information collected, which is a good way of collecting proposals, opinions, and recommendations of businesses and citizens.

Another advantage of the site is the possibility of posting ads for Bulgarian and foreign companies, including a choice of how many and on which pages to post them.

Municipalities that do not provide the required information on time may be excluded from the Web site. More importantly, however, there is a possibility for new municipalities to be included, subject to preliminary training and study of their resources.

The development of the Web site began in the fall of 2003 with a series of discussions, bidding, and selection of a developer. Collecting and publishing the information required significant amounts of time. The Web site became operational in April 2004 and was presented for the first time to approximately 60 attendees at a party in Hanover , Germany , on April 22, 2004 .

Since the English version of the Web site became accessible, companies from Greece , Turkey , Italy , and the United States have sent inquiries. Every inquiry is reviewed and answered within the time indicated by the potential investor.

The Web site has provided a forum for local companies seeking business partners in Bulgaria and abroad as well as for municipal economic development specialists.

The collection of the information and the development of the materials for the Web site has increased the capacity of the local economic development specialists to promote business opportunities and recruit investors. In the long term, this encouragement of economic activity in the municipalities will result in job creation, better quality of life, and greater revenues to municipal budgets.

The main goal of the project was to develop a Web site that would provide comprehensive information on investment opportunities in 14, and later more, Bulgarian municipalities. The target users include Bulgarian and foreign companies looking for a location for their busi nesses. The results from the Web site so far confirm the need for such a tool. It is up to the partners under the project to maintain this tool and generate more interest in it, to provide a channel for reliable and current information for the people whose entre pre neurial spirit is the basis for the socioeconomic development of the Bulgarian communities.