ATLANTA, GA (August 24, 2012) –City of Waynesboro - Office of Economic Development received the Best of Class Award, Small Division, for it’s web site entry www.waynesborobusiness.com at the Communication Awards Ceremony during the 2012 Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC) Annual Conference, recently held August 5-7, 2012 in Myrtle Beach, SC.
“These annual Communication Awards recognize and showcase the leading marketing work done by economic development professionals throughout the south. City of Waynesboro - Office of Economic Development was one of the organizations that hit the mark this year with its campaign. This campaign not only showed creativity, but also solid messaging and effectiveness at reaching its target audience. We were wowed by all the entries we received this year, and were impressed with the high level of marketing work being done in economic development by SEDC members,” said SEDC President Gene Stinson after the Ceremony.

The Communication Awards are given each year by SEDC at its Annual Conference. Over 20 categories of marketing work submitted by SEDC members are evaluated within four division size levels. The awards are: BEST OF SHOW, BEST OF CLASS, SUPERIOR, EXCELLENT, MERIT , and SPECIAL JUDGES’ AWARDS. Judging criteria for General Entry Awards include Graphic Appeal, Clarity of Message, Quality of Information, Positioning / Differentiation and Format. All winners were on full display for attendees to view during the conference.  Judges for the Communication Awards competition are economic development consultants, practitioners and design professionals from across the southern U.S. that work with clients in developing strategies for growth in their communities. SEDC chose these judges because of their knowledge of economic development, site location and design. They understand the needs businesses have in choosing a site and how communities and economic development organizations can reach prospective clients through their marketing efforts.  The 2012 SEDC Annual Conference is currently in its 65th year and is SEDC’s main educational event of the year.  Over 400 economic development professionals spent three days networking and learning recent economic development trends and strategies from corporate, government and executive professionals.
 

About SEDC
The Southern Economic Development Council is an 870 member professional association composed of a broad cross-section of active and influential economic developers from business and industry, utilities, transportation, financial and education institutions, chambers of commerce, and local, regional and state development agencies.  Members in the 17-state area share a common interest: the promotion and enhancement of the economic development profession. The SEDC region includes the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland and the District of Columbia, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. For more information about SEDC please visit our Web site at www.sedc.org.

Contact Information
Laura Guerin, Operations Manager
Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC)
laura@sedc.org, (404) 523-3030
P.O. Box 18369, Atlanta, GA 303016