About the Organization
The Appalachian Council, Inc. is a nonprofit organization founded by chief executive officers of AFL-CIO state organizations of the greater Appalachia area. Since its founding over 50 years ago, the Council’s mission has been to provide life-changing educational, training, and career development opportunities for the people of the Appalachian region.
The various programs of the Appalachian Council focus on comprehensive child development (including Head Start Programs in 11 West Virginia counties), career transition and placement, vocational training and employee assistance programs. The Appalachian Council envisions and is committed to creating a community in which the citizens of West Virginia have every opportunity to realize their full potential.
Outgrowing the “Homegrown” Look
“The website we had originally was really pretty basic, kind of homegrown,” admits Dr. Philip Keith, CEO of the Appalachian Council. He was ready to make some significant changes. “We’d outgrown our website and I was looking for something that would be more useable for our program staff, stakeholders and end users.”
After spending some time searching for a web designer, Philip came across Jamie’s work. The Appalachian Council offices, located in the AFL-CIO building, provided Philip with easy access to that organization’s staff. They invited Philip to look at the work that Jamie had done on their website, which prompted him to review Jamie’s enhancements on websites of additional similar organizations. After seeing what Jamie had accomplished for those organizations, Philip was convinced. “He and I met once or twice, and Jamie was really interested in our vision.”
Philip already had in mind what he wanted in the way of an upgraded website, and it was easy for him to convey his thoughts and ideas to Jamie. He recalls, “What was really important about my interaction with Jamie is that he was receptive to basic ideas, and then he ran with those ideas and really worked towards helping us to reach that vision. He did a wonderful job with this.”
Maintaining Identity
The Appalachian Council has experienced some challenges maintaining its identity as an organization that manages and oversees the federally funded Head Start Program. The possibility that website visitors would come away thinking that the Council consists only of the Head Start Program was unacceptable to Philip because the organization is much more than that.
“We went back and forth trying to distinguish ourselves because we really didn’t want to get ‘lost’ in the Head Start Program,” he explains. “Jamie was great at being able to interpret this need.”
Using the Enhancements
The improvements that Jamie built into the website have made it far more functional and user-friendly. “It conceptually and graphically does a good job of representing who we are as an organization,” adds Philip. He also notes that the staff is still going through a learning curve on using some of the new features, and he sees real potential for growth. “I think that’s one of Jamie’s assets – he’s always looking forward, and now we have a great set of bones that we can build on in the long run.”
Philip found Jamie to be a web designer who has “one of those personalities that’s real easy to work with,” adding that Jamie is a good communicator: “He’s able to break everything down in laymen’s terms.”
Looking Forward
Jamie will continue to support the Appalachian Council’s website functionality. The organization’s goal is to continue expanding the website in order to further engage its end users, including donors. Philip looks forward to a day in the near future when parents, community and board members are comfortable regularly accessing the website for all the important information they need regarding the Appalachian Council’s programs and services.
