Company Story
What may be a little-known fact is that manufacturing accounts for more jobs in West Virginia than any other industry. Manufacturers in West Virginia are very active statewide, and so is the West Virginia Manufacturers Association (WVMA), which has been advocating on behalf of the manufacturing industry’s growth and prosperity for over 100 years.
The WVMA exists to promote manufacturing companies and jobs throughout the state. Its approximately 200 member companies benefit from the advocacy and research efforts that WVMA performs on their behalf. Among its many pursuits, the WVMA connects manufacturers through networking opportunities, and the WVMA members who comprise its Governmental Affairs Team of state policy experts represent the best interests of manufacturing in West Virginia.
In March of 2012, the association, in conjunction with the West Virginia Construction and Design Expo and the West Virginia Department of Commerce, hosted the first Marcellus to Manufacturing (M2M) conference in the state. Bricks Without Straw was suggested to the association by a client of Jamie Summers-Brown. With only three months to organize the conference, Bricks Without Straw contributed to the event’s success by developing a site specifically for conference details, as well as implementing an extremely easy registration process. Patty Barnhart, WVMA’s executive assistant, was impressed with Jamie’s work. “Knowledgeable and personable,” was her immediate response, when asked to list Jamie’s strengths.
The Need to Become User-Friendly and Dynamic
Fast forward to 2017. Saddled with a website that was no longer user-friendly, the WVMA decided it was time to improve. Rebecca McPhail, president of the WVMA, explains,“Our main problem was that after having a website for many years, so much of our information became layered and just got buried over time – to the point where it was difficult to find anything when we needed it. The website just became more and more difficult to navigate. We also needed to make it more dynamic to reflect all the continuous changes in manufacturing statewide.”
The Change Process
When Jamie met with the WVMA staff, they articulated their vision of an improved website. He helped them to gain a better understanding of the site’s functionality and of the various improvements he proposed. Patty recalls, “We sat down with Jamie and talked about the website and he was very knowledgeable.” The decision was made to task Jamie and Bricks Without Straw with the upgrade; Rebecca clearly remembers her reasons why: “I hired Jamie for his expertise in knowing how we could modify what had become a static site and make it more dynamic.”
Bricks Without Straw basically rebuilt the entire site with marked improvements, such as the posting of industry-related news articles and establishing a more robust membership section, creating the user-friendly site the association desired. “Jamie looked at what we had, peeled back the layers of information, and made suggestions on how we could present it all in a more user-friendly way,” notes Rebecca. “Ultimately, he gave us more than what I expected,” Rebecca adds. “He turned my concepts into reality in a way that was better than I envisioned.”
What Distinguishes Bricks Without Straw?
As a result of Jamie’s collaboration with the WVMA staff and completing their website upgrade, the association members now have a very informative and useable website. The WVMA staff really appreciates the new efficiency of the website and are thrilled that the members can easily access the information they need when they need it.
What distinguishes Bricks Without Straw from others in the web development field is Jamie’s drive to constantly educate himself about the industries he serves and issues affecting them. “He’s so well-rounded in his thinking, and he learns about the industry, so he knows what’s going on,” says Patty. Rebecca reflects on her ease of working with Jamie and how much of an asset he became in their website improvement process. “I used to tease him and call him our vice president because he became my right hand in terms of communicating our marketing and branding. Since our membership is parceled around the state, a lot of what we do is centered on our ability to share information. So, in addition to helping with the technical aspects, Jamie’s got a creative mind that helped propel some of our initiatives to a different level. He understands our focus and mission and has been a valuable asset to helping us deliver strong member services.”
It’s that extra effort, combined with his genuine friendliness, that enables Jamie and Bricks Without Straw to more effectively meet the needs of organizations like the West Virginia Manufacturers Association.
