Seven Dearborn, Ohio County Businesses Have New Websites Thanks to Generous Grant

The grant funds paid for two years of website hosting and domain registration.

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(Dearborn County, Ind.) - Seven Dearborn and Ohio county businesses and organizations have new websites thanks to a partnership among the Duke Energy Foundation, Purdue Center for Regional Development, Dearborn & Ohio Counties Broadband & Digital Inclusion Task Force, and One Dearborn Economic Development. 

The new business websites belong to: 

• Angie’s Bakery in Rising Sun – www.angiescoffeehouse.com    
• Bright Area Business Association – www.brightareabusinesses.org    
• EveryDay Hair Design in Aurora – www.everydayhairdesign.com  
• Little Red Academy in Greendale – www.littleredacademy.com   
• North Dearborn Water Authority – new website debuting soon 
• Plug’s Sweet Tooth in Aurora – www.plugssweettooth.com   
• Southeastern Indiana Art Guild – www.southeasternindianaartguild.org   

“Little Red Academy truly appreciates the opportunity to be a part of this grant program! Getting our website designed and operational allows us to connect with our current families and provide them information about upcoming activities. It also gives potential new families that need care for their little ones another way to connect with us and see what services we offer,” says Melissa Watkins, owner of Little Red Academy. 

PCRD awarded a $15,000 Duke Energy Foundation Digital Inclusion Grant to One Dearborn, which formed the new Dearborn & Ohio Counties Broadband & Digital Inclusion Task Force to identify a best use of the funds in line with the Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission’s 2022 Regional Digital Inclusion Plan. The task force members settled on helping local businesses and non-profits without websites improve their online presence by creating, in most cases, their first ever website.  

The grant funds paid for two years of website hosting and domain registration. Absolute Web Marketing owner and task force volunteer Bebe Kinnett was chosen to design and create the businesses’ new websites.  

At a training session hosted at the Lawrenceburg Community Center in June, task force members taught the business owners and managers the basics on how to edit and update their new websites, along with a few strategies and tips on how to perform better in search results and online reviews. Reneisha Rudder, the Economic Resiliency Coordinator and Digital Fellow for the Southern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, was also there to assist with training. 

“The website program aligned well with One Dearborn’s business retention and expansion activities. Our new task force and this program helped business owners develop a stronger online presence and increase their ability to market themselves to a broader audience, which will help them continue to grow,” said Mike Perleberg, executive director of One Dearborn.  

The Dearborn & Ohio Counties Broadband & Digital Inclusion Task Force will continue working more strategies in the SIRPC Digital Inclusion Plan, which can be viewed at www.sirpc.org/broadband/digital-inclusion-plan.  

For more information on One Dearborn or to access the Dearborn County Regional Economic Development Plan, visit www.1dearborn.org/reports.