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EDA hears demo of county-only business website and discusses budget, recruitment
Summary
The King and Queen County EDA heard from Cherie Edilson of membermarketplace.com about a county-only business website to host businesses without online presences; members discussed recruitment, costs and a budgeted pilot. Chairman George Longest asked next steps; staff said budget funds are available to begin.
The King and Queen County Economic Development Authority on Feb. 5 heard a demonstration of membermarketplace.com, a website platform proposed to host county businesses that currently lack an online presence.
Cherie Edilson, founder and CEO of membermarketplace.com, showed examples of sites built for other economic development authorities and chambers and described how businesses can be imported from listings or create accounts. "Where do we go from here?" Chairman George Longest asked after the presentation. Kelly Evko, Director of Economic Development, told the authority she has budgeted funds available to begin the process and wanted input from EDA members before proceeding.
Members discussed recruitment strategies and what business owners would need to do to participate. Sarah Massey recommended, if the EDA moves forward, that the authority lock in the vendor price for a set term to allow a trial period and later reassessment. The presentation emphasized that the platform would feature only businesses located in King and Queen County and would not be a simple directory but an on‑boarding tool for businesses without an online presence.
The EDA did not take a formal vote on contracting at the meeting; members asked staff to return with cost details and next steps. The meeting previously approved the January 2026 minutes (motion by Plunard Robinson, seconded by Melinda Coleman) and moved on to other agenda items.
