Westchester County Launches New ‘Catalyst’ Website
Real Estate In-Depth | November 18, 2019
WHITE PLAINS—The Westchester County Office of Economic Development launched on Nov. 14 what it termed is a new and dynamic website called “The Catalys” to position Westchester County as the place to live, work and visit.
The Catalyst website—Westchestercatalyst.com —is a total departure from the current site and reflects the Office of Economic Development’s new Catalyst brand in an interactive and uncluttered design that is filled with valuable information yet easy to navigate, county officials stated.
The Catalyst home page welcomes users with a series of highly engaging videos focusing on the site’s three main sections—Work, Live and Visit.
“The Westchester Catalyst site was custom designed and built as a ‘digital concierge’ to take users through the opportunities and benefits of living, working and visiting the county. Through visuals, ambient video and an abundance of information delivered in a clear and concise format, an immersive brand experience was created to attract new residents and businesses, as well as inform the current communities dwelling in the cities, towns and villages,” said Greg Valvano, co-founder and creative director of Crafted, the digital creative studio that designed and developed The Catalyst.
“If you look at the current site there’s a lot of information there. Our biggest challenge was taking all that information and streamlining it and making it digestible for the users, so they don’t feel overwhelmed. The three buckets of Work, Live and Visit really simplifies it for the user and defines who the user is. Then we can start speaking to that person, whether they want to work live or visit Westchester,” said Peter Mendez, co-founder and experience director of Crafted. He added, “Our goal was to create an experience where everyone can get the information they need within three clicks. And we want to make sure those three clicks are as informative as possible and that we get the user to where they need to be as quickly as possible.”
Bridget Gibbons, director of the Office of Economic Development said, “Over a five-month process, the user experience, information hierarchy and creative content were all strategized and produced in tandem with each other to formulate a robust, flexible platform that’s able to evolve with the county’s growth. Consisting of interactive maps, dedicated municipality pages and rich media, The Catalyst acts as a central digital hub for all things Westchester County.”
“The Catalyst serves as an interactive gateway for the general public and business community to fully understand why Westchester County is such a unique place with its talented workforce, incredible natural beauty, unmatched quality of life and strategic location near New York City,” said Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
The Work in Westchester section provides links to the many incentives and programs available to businesses including the Industrial Development Agency, Local Development Corporation, Minority and Women Owned Business Program, Opportunity Zones and the County’s Element 46 Incubator program. There are also links to the latest developments in the county and the 2019 Westchester County Economic Development Guide. Contract opportunities with the county are also posted on the site.
For those looking to move to Westchester and those who already reside here, the Live in Westchester section provides a wealth of information with a particular focus on the county’s six urban centers—New Rochelle, White Plains, Yonkers, Port Chester, Peekskill and Mount Vernon. Each section includes data such as median home values, population and commuting time by train to Manhattan. There is also information on housing, dining, culture, parks and recreation, major employers, business community and education—all illustrated with colorful interactive maps and photos. Plans are to expand this section to include the many town, villages and hamlets in the county.
The Visit Westchester section of The Catalyst provides links to the County Office of Tourism’s website – visitwestchesterny.com – with information on an abundance of things of do in the county including farms and orchards, culinary scene, outdoor adventure and festivals and fairs. There is also a comprehensive list of seasonal events throughout the county.