The Economic Development Commission (EDC) of Mid-Florida has developed a Web site to attract corporations to Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties. To increase its presence on the Internet, the EDC also has linked its Web site to search engines used by site selectors.

The EDC began its Internet campaign by creating an EDC Web site with information on communities' education, transportation, housing and demographics. After the site was running, the commission looked for ways to bring traffic to its site. "If you are going to be competitive, you need to be linked to as many technological opportunities that are out there," says Pat Nompleggi, senior vice president for the EDC of Mid Florida. "Those are the communities that are going to win."

The commission partnered with newly formed American Community Network, based in Atlanta, to increase its presence on the Internet. It links its Web site to the company's online site selection and economic development product, acn.net, which is used by consultants and corporate executives to research potential business sites.

Visitors to the Web site can perform side-by-side comparisons of EDC's communities and other U.S. cities based on criteria such as population, crime rate, location and even weather. Also, through the partnership, the EDC has a direct link to destinationsouthlink.com, the Web site for the Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC).

The EDC Web site now receives more than 1,000 page views each day, and the commission is pleased with the exposure its region is receiving. "The most important thing is getting your community out to the world using whatever means and avenues are available," she says.