To find and learn more about local businesses and events, use the Find it Local Columbia County app.
The Find it Columbia County app is a new tool intended to be a directory of local businesses, organizations, nonprofits, attractions, and events. This app was developed by Keep it Local Columbia County.
Keep it Local Columbia County is a program of the Columbia Economic Team, a nonprofit organization dedicated to small business marketing. Keep it Local Director Sierra Truss sat down with the chief for an interview about the app and what it can offer Columbia County residents and visitors.
The app was developed using remaining funds from a Business Oregon grant set aside to create an online business directory.
“It was kind of progress,” Truss said. I’ve been working on an online directory for about a year and a half. So when that launched in May, I was like, “Okay, we did it!” And the grant from Business Oregon that made that possible actually had additional funding, so it funded the development of the app. ”
Trass has been working on integrating the app since April, and it was officially released on October 6th. The app and online business directory are linked, and business, event, and organization listings added to the online directory are “automatically pooled into the app.” ”
“This makes it easier because you don’t have to tell people to put something in two places,” Trass says. “When a user adds themselves to keepitlocalcc.com’s online directory, it only takes a few hours for that listing to be approved and immediately reflected in the app. Then, when a user wants to update their listing online, Please update the app as well.”
Trass said the app is a useful tool because it not only lets you search for businesses by name, but also allows you to see businesses listed in a “map view” that allows you to search by city or location.
“We also have the ability to search by business category, so if you want to go to the ‘Shop Category’ and see local boutiques, you can do that,” she said. “Or you can go to ‘Flavour Categories’ and if you want to look at farms, restaurants, food trucks, you can search by those categories, or you can search by city.”
Examples Truss gave include looking for a food truck in St. Helens or an art business in Clatskanie. She described the customization as “clever and fun.”
One of Trass’ favorite features is the ability for users to add multiple destinations they want to visit in a day, and the app will route a course to visit each stop the user selects.
VisitWidget created the app, and Shop Local was able to customize the colors and interface. A large part of the work that Trass has done is registering businesses in the directory. Truss and her team have already added about 300 listings to the directory, but she hopes locals will start adding to the directory themselves.
“Online directories and apps are meant to be created by local communities, and we strive to add listings there as much as possible to ensure people are represented,” Truss said. Told. “The experts at local businesses and local nonprofits are the people who run them and provide services. That’s why I educate the community, register in directories, and see if listings are created. has strived to educate and activate people to claim that list or create one.”
The directory includes about 450 businesses and more than 50 local events, but Truss said he knows there are “much more” than that. Once you create a listing, you can share what you want people to know about your business and customize it to your liking.
Early feedback on the app has been largely positive. Mr Truss said people appreciated the look of the app and were happy with the convenience of finding local businesses and events. Some of the constructive feedback they received was to resolve glitches and bugs in the app.
Truss said he has not yet looked at initial data on app usage or download numbers. She said the app “continues to evolve” as more businesses and events are added to the directory. Truss hopes people will continue to share and support the app.
“It’s not just local businesses, it’s local residents as well. Everyone had a weekend where they were like, ‘Okay, what are we going to do this weekend? It would be really nice to see what’s going on locally.’ “If you’ve heard of this app, download the Find it Local Columbia County app and see what happens this weekend,” she said. ”
Truss said she is excited about the tool and hopes it will make it easier to find local businesses and shop local.