In February of 2008, MAEDC received an award letter from the Montana Department of Commerce committing to fund a $24,995 online profile which will become a part of the Greater Missoula Downtown Master Plan.
This Big Sky Trust Fund Category II award will fund a current online representation of Missoula’s Downtown, The University of Montana campus, and the St. Patrick’s Hospital campus. This profile will feature 3-dimentional representations, integrating digital photographs for texturing, using Google Earth software. Matching funds from the Master Plan have been committed for a 20-year build-out using this same technology.
WGM Group, the local subcontractor for the Greater Missoula Downtown Master Plan, approached MAEDC with this project as a tool for economic development. This profile, which will inventory community resources including historical landmarks, recreation sites, retail destinations, area restaurants, and more, uses one of the most frequently accessed search engines world wide, Google. The 3-D representations will aide in student recruitment, business recruitment and tourism. Businesses will have the ability to attach their own website to this inventory mechanism, which will offer a secondary marketing opportunity and add to the vitality of Missoula’s downtown. Other communities including Portland, OR and Boulder, CO have created 3-D online profiles using Google Earth. WGM Group was a major part of the application process, and will begin work on the profile upon execution of a contract with MDOC.
MAEDC would like to thank WGM Group for their involvement in the application process, and for the innovative project idea which will add a world-wide component to the Greater Downtown Master Plan. MAEDC would also like to thank the Montana Department of Commerce for their continued support of economic development in Missoula and throughout the state.
“The Master Plan for Missoula’s Downtown is critical to our economic prospects,” stated Dick King, MAEDC’s President/CEO. “It will give investors in our community a clear understanding of where the downtown is headed and convey a sense of reliability regarding how proposed developments will be viewed by the planning department, the business sector, and the community at large,” he concluded. King also noted that the Master Plan is a cooperative effort, with major commitments coming from the Downtown Business Improvement District, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, and the Missoula Parking Commission. In addition to helping fund the Google-earth project, MAEDC is also contributing $5,000 to the overall planning project.