New AdvantageWest website recognized as ‘Superior’ by Southern Economic Development Council

Here’s the press release from AdvantageWest:

(August 25, 2014 – Fletcher, North Carolina): The new website for
AdvantageWest, www.AdvantageWest.com, has won a “Superior” award from
the Southern Economic Development Council. SEDC is the oldest and
largest regional economic development association in North America with
nearly 1,000 members in 17 states and the District of Columbia. This is
the fourth consecutive year that AdvantageWest has been recognized for
communications excellence by the SEDC.

SEDC presented awards in more than 20 categories of marketing work,
evaluating entries within four division-size levels at its annual
meeting in early August. AdvantageWest, a nonprofit economic development
organization serving Western North Carolina since 1994, competed in the
Large Division against locations that include Atlanta, Dallas, New
Orleans, Miami and Washington, D.C.

The new site serves as a platform for showcasing the strategic
advantages of doing business in the western part of the state, while
also providing a sense of the region’s beauty, culture, and tradition of
innovation, said AdvantageWest President and CEO Scott T. Hamilton. “We
are delighted to be recognized with this award. In many ways, our
website is the gateway to Western North Carolina for businesses seeking
to expand or relocate. By understanding the unique needs of the industry
segments we target, we believe that with this website we have created a
competitive advantage for the region.”

AdvantageWest’s program of work focuses on the region’s unique economic
drivers of advanced manufacturing, entrepreneurial funding and
development, filmmaking, and agribusiness. The website was designed so
that anyone associated with those industry segments will find essential
information to help them achieve business success here in Western North
Carolina, said Hamilton.

Judges for the communication awards competition are economic development
consultants, practitioners and design professionals from across the
southern U.S. that work with clients in developing strategies for growth
in their communities. SEDC chose these judges because of their knowledge
of economic development, site location and design. Judging criteria
included Graphic Appeal, Clarity of Message, Quality of Information,
Positioning/Differentiation and Format.

The Southern Economic Development Council is a professional association
composed of a broad cross-section of active and influential economic
developers from business and industry, utilities, transportation,
financial and education institutions, chambers of commerce, and local,
regional and state development agencies. Members share a common
interest: the promotion and enhancement of the economic development
profession. The SEDC region includes the following states: Alabama,
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland and
the District of Columbia, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

For more information about SEDC, visit www.sedc.org.
AdvantageWest is a 501(c)3, nonprofit regional economic development
organization serving the westernmost counties of the state, a geographic
region of about 10,000 square miles or about the size of the state of
Maryland. AdvantageWest’s current program of work focuses on advanced
manufacturing, entrepreneurial funding and development, the film
industry (through Western North Carolina Film Commission) and
agribusiness (through initiatives that include Blue Ridge Food
Ventures). For more information, visit www.AdvantageWest.com or call
(828) 687-7234. AdvantageWest is on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/AdvantageWest and on Twitter at @AdvantageWest.