The Daily Inter Lake

Flathead Valley Community College's board of trustees approved a contract Monday with a firm to build a new college brand and Web site to boost student recruiting.

In a unanimous vote, trustees approved a proposal from Stamats Communications, one of six firms competing for the contract. The firm proposed to develop a brand and design a site for $70,375.

The college also will bear an additional cost of between $10,000 and $30,000, depending on the content management software selected.

College public information officer Tara Roth said Stamats was selected based on its high-quality portfolio, solid references, quality research and preparation, ground-up construction approach and emphasis on mission brand.

"In the past five years, Stamats has won more awards than anyone in the business," Roth said.

She said that an innovative, interactive, user-friendly Web site was one of most cost-effective marketing tools available. Declining enrollment in recent years remains a top concern of the administration and trustees.

Stamats specializes in identifying a college brand through interviews with alumni, students, employees and community members. Roth said the firm will make two campus visits to conduct focus groups.

"They come back with all the information and start developing a brand direction for us," she said.

Answering questions from trustees, Roth said the college will maintain and update the Web site. Stamats committed to help the college choose content management software for user-friendly maintenance.

College President Jane Karas said that aspect was one that weighed in favor of Stamats. Some other proposals asked for an ongoing maintenance fee of up to $900 a month.

According to Roth, Stamats recently completed similar work for Montana Tech. The committee reviewing proposals looked at the new Web site which sports the slogan, "Get Into It."

"It blew us away," she said.

Roth added that every site created by Stamats was different. The other competing firms' creations were variations of basic templates.

Also at the meeting, Beth Kelly, student admissions representative, presented a CD produced by Flathead Valley Community College students for use in recruiting. She said the CD will link directly into the new Web site.

Instructor Dawn Rauscher's Web-design class tackled the project of designing an interactive view book for the college to send to prospective students. It includes testimonials from students and teachers as well as information about degrees, programs and departments.

If interested, students can print out an application.

Kelly said the students developed three options for the CD. She selected one that promotes the college "as a whole."

"I think our CD is as good as anything out there," she said.

According to Kelly, the CD will cut down on the cost of mailing out the college catalog. The college can create more CDs on demand.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.