The award presentation at the Oct. 14 Fairfax City Council meeting. (From left) are Doug Church, chairman, Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce; Council members Ellie Schmidt, Michael DeMarco and Jeff Greenfield; Mayor Scott Silverthorne; John Sullivan, legislative counsel, Google; Council members David Meyer, Nancy Loftus and Janice Miller (in front) and John Sabo, chairman, Fairfax City Economic Development Authority. Photo by Bonnie Hobbs/The Connection
The City of Fairfax was named last week by Google Corp. as the eCity for the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was selected for inclusion on a list of “digital capitals of America” for 2014.
In its recognition, Google stated, “The City of Fairfax Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places, but Fairfax has a modern online presence, too. The city’s comprehensive website offers easy access to school issues, tax assessments and more.”
Google’s eCity Awards “recognize the strongest online business community in each state,” observing how businesses in each city use their web presence for business development and customer service. Google based its results on examining the economic value provided by Google Search and AdWords, Google AdSense and Google Ad Grants in 2013.
“In the City of Fairfax, we try to balance our history with an ambitious vision of the future,” said Mayor Scott Silverthorne. “City business owners use technology to expand and deliver, yet maintain a personal touch with their customers. It’s how a smaller city remains competitive in a robust, metropolitan area.”
Google’s eCity Awards recognize the strongest online business community in each state. These cities’ businesses are using the web to find new customers, connect with existing customers and fuel their local economies.