The County of Emmet is seeking proposals for the redesign and reformat of its website (emmetcounty.org). Emmet County is in the northern most part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The population was 34,112 at the 2020 census. The County currently employs 205 full time staff. In addition to administrative staff, other departments include EMS, Parks & Recreation, Sheriff’s Office, three Courts, and Pellston Regional airport. The county seat is in Petoskey.
Emmet County is currently partnered with Gaslight Media and is using the WordPress content management system, hosted and provided by Gaslight Media. The current iteration of the website was launched and designed by Gaslight Media in 2015. The current domain (emmetcounty.org) will remain in use for the redesigned site. Preference is for the website to be hosted at data centers within the United States.
The key users of the site will be residents, visitors, business owners, community groups, the Board of Commissioners, committee members, and County staff. Our vision is to have a secure site that is fully-functioning on desktops, tablets and mobile devices. It should also be functional without limitation on all major desktop and mobile browsers such as, but not limited to, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari. A significant portion of the county’s residents does not have high-speed/broadband internet access and have slow download speeds as a result. Thus, fast download is a critical consideration in page design.
Creation of a highly useable website using a centralized, dynamic design and organization that brings 24-hour access to county information and forms with consistent visibility to the services and functions that Emmet County provides to its constituents. Final scope will be determined in consultation with the successful vendor. Emmet County will own the website code.
