City of Staunton Economic Development Website Redesign Case Study

Background

A Business-Ready Website for Staunton

The City of Staunton’s Economic Development team supports a broad range of audiences, from site selection consultants considering locations for major investments to local entrepreneurs building businesses in the community.

Its old website contained a wealth of useful information, but the platform’s limitations made that information difficult to organize, present and maintain. Important data could get buried within pages of copy, property searches sent visitors away from the website and the site lacked a clear narrative connecting Staunton’s economic advantages with its distinctive culture and quality of life.

The City needed a modern economic development website that could make a strong business case for Staunton, help different audiences find relevant information quickly and give staff a flexible platform they would be excited to keep current.

The Challenge

Serve Multiple Audiences Without Losing Staunton’s Character

Economic development websites have unusually complex audiences.

Site selectors need property information, workforce data, infrastructure details, and market access information often under tight deadlines. Corporate executives want a concise picture of Staunton’s strategic advantages. Local businesses and startups need practical guidance, resources and connections. Community stakeholders want to understand the Economic Development team’s role and see how its work benefits the City.

Serving all of these audiences within one website required careful prioritization. The experience needed to be fast and data-driven without feeling sterile. It also needed to communicate what makes Staunton special: a strategic East Coast location, strong transportation access, a qualified workforce, competitive costs and a distinctive quality of life.

Specific challenges included:

Competing Audience Needs
Site selectors, executives, entrepreneurs and community stakeholders each visit the website with different questions and levels of urgency.
Critical Information Was Hard to Find
Property listings, workforce data, infrastructure details and business resources needed clearer organization and faster pathways.
A Story Hidden Inside the Data
The site contained valuable facts but lacked a connecting narrative that explained why those advantages make Staunton a strong business location.
Balancing Internal Priorities
The project needed to bring several stakeholder perspectives together without allowing the website experience to become fragmented or overly complex.
Hard for Department Staff to Update
Website updates had to go through a third-party vendor, slowing turnaround times and making timely changes harder to manage.

Our Solution

Build the Experience Around Audience Needs

We began by looking beyond the existing navigation and focusing on the questions visitors needed the website to answer. That audience-first approach shaped a clearer information architecture organized around five primary areas: Why Staunton, Properties, Business Tools, Staunton Stories and About.

Working with JLV Communications, which led copy and content strategy, we created an experience that combines practical business information with a more cohesive story about Staunton. Key improvements included:

Audience-Specific Executive Summaries

Give site selectors, corporate executives and local businesses a quick path to the information most relevant to them.

A User-Friendly Property Search Experience

Combine property search capabilities from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and information about featured properties in one connected experience.

Accessible Business Data

Present market access, workforce, demographic and industry information in formats that support faster, more confident decision-making.

Clearer Business Resources

Create direct pathways to incentives, business assistance, partner organizations and other resources for companies looking to start, expand or relocate.

Stories That Bring the Data to Life

Use Staunton Stories, photography and clear calls to action to show how the Economic Development team supports businesses and the community.

The Result

An Award-Winning Path From Interest to Action

The redesigned website removes barriers for site selectors and local entrepreneurs by putting essential information within easier reach. Visitors can quickly understand Staunton’s advantages, explore available properties, review business data, find relevant resources and connect with the right people.

At the same time, economic data, business success stories and quality-of-life content now work together to present a fuller picture of why businesses choose Staunton.

Key achievements include:

Strategic Clarity

An audience-first structure helps distinct internal and external audiences find the information they need without losing the consistent Staunton story.

Faster Access to Information

Executive summaries, clearer navigation and integrated property information reduce friction during early-stage location research.

A Stronger Staunton Story

Economic data, business stories and quality-of-life content now work together to communicate Staunton’s advantages with greater clarity and personality.

Less Friction for Staff

A flexible content management platform makes it easier for City staff to take ownership of their own website, keeping market data, properties and resources current.

Effective Team Collaboration

Clear communication and a practical process kept multiple stakeholders aligned while balancing sometimes-competing priorities.

Award-Winning Recognition

The project earned a 2026 Web Excellence Award in the "Website - Economic Development" category, recognizing the strength of the design and its impact on prospective visitors.