Visit Marshall County to rebid website, moves grant applications to online form

The Visit Marshall County Tourism Commission said it is rebidding the county tourism website after multiple technical reviews concluded the current site cannot be reliably edited. Commission members said visitmarshallcounty.org is producing a blank page in some searches and that the site’s backend relies on custom themes the current vendor no longer supports.

The commission reported two bids already in hand for a rebuilt WordPress site and said a new site will include an integrated application form and a back end that staff can edit. In the short term the commission will accept grant applications through a Microsoft Form; staff will manage submissions and forward PDFs to commissioners. Members said the commission will publicize the application window through social media, the Chamber of Commerce and local media.

Commission members also discussed domain ownership and contract language to ensure the commission owns content and materials produced for the site. The commission said Visit Marshall County will own the creation and management of the new site and that they are reviewing contracts to confirm domain and content ownership. Members discussed hiring a full‑time staff person to operate the site and related tourism work; they said the timing and scope of the hire are under consideration.

No formal award of the new website contract was made at the meeting; commission members said they expect further vendor evaluation at the next meeting and to accept application submissions for consideration at their October meeting. Staff offered to acknowledge receipt of grant submissions with a template email and to invite applicants to present for five minutes at the commission meeting when appropriate.