Stowe gets Googled

This little burg has been named Vermont’s eCity for 2014 by Internet powerhouse Google, in a program that recognizes the best online business cities (and towns, in Stowe’s case) in each state.

“Stowe serves as a prime example of how innovation and growth in e-commerce can successfully contribute to bolstering economic progress and competitiveness,” said Matt Dunne, a Vermont resident who’s head of Google Community Affairs.

The eCity title may sound surprising until you stop and think of how many Stowe lodging facilities and resorts, retailers and restaurants use the Internet to promote themselves and to do business.

“We do have some high-tech businesses in town, but it also seems the award is based on how non-high-tech businesses are using technology,” said Trevor Crist. He is co-founder and president of Inntopia, an internationally recognized — and fast-growing — online resort and destination reservation system, and one of the bona fide IT companies based in Stowe.

“It isn’t about infrastructure,” Crist said. “We all know there’s room for improvement.”

Google, in naming Stowe the state’s 2014 eCity, singled out Inntopia; PAR Springer-Miller Systems, which helps hotels all over Stowe and in 43 countries with the technology side of their businesses; and Stowe Mountain Resort, a longstanding business that is finding new energy in the 21st century.

“The lodges, the mountain, Stowe Area Association, they’ve been early adopters in many ways, and they’ve been really good at online marketing,” Crist said.

Larry Hall, CEO of PAR Springer-Miller, said Stowe’s small size works in its favor when it comes to the Google seal of approval. He notes similarities between mega-corporation Google choosing Stowe and his own company taking its 30 years of local hospitality experience and applying its homegrown software to customers all over the world.

He said running an IT company — or any company— in Vermont can be a headache, especially in the winter. Plus, a company that does most of its business online is eminently portable, and can just pack up and move anywhere there’s an Internet connection. But his company is sticking around because of the quality of life in Vermont, and he thinks Google’s choice of a small town is good for the whole state in attracting high-tech business.

“This should serve as a reminder to the town, and to the state, that technology is very important,” Hall said. “Stowe has a high number of businesses that use e-commerce, or embrace and leverage that technology.”

The biggest player in town is Stowe Mountain Resort. It’s one of the oldest ski resorts in the country, and for a time it showed its age.

No more. Now, the company is constantly striving to keep up with customers’ digital needs, said Jeff Wise, director of marketing for the resort. And it has some new tech to show off this coming ski season.

There’s the ByPass program, which takes advantage of the resort’s high-tech Evolution pass card by letting skiers and riders just go right up to a ski lift and have their card debited for a day pass. They can skip the ticket window, and they pay less than a normal single-day lift ticket ($89 vs. $108).

Stowe Mountain Resort is also embracing Instagram this season, posting skiers’ and riders’ powder shots and lift selfies on the resort website.

“In terms of being tech-friendly for our guests, we’re constantly trying to improve people’s digital experience,” Wise said.

As for Stowe being named Google’s Vermont eCity, Wise said, “It doesn’t surprise me, because of the huge digital presence the resort and the town has.”

Tech-friendly town hall

There is plenty of e-business going on in Stowe — and with second-home owners able to run their out-of-state enterprises from here, there may be more Internet commerce conducted in Stowe by out-of-state businesses than anyone knows.

But Google also points to the municipal government itself as being cutting-edge.

On the eCities website, Google said about Stowe: “This charming New England town is known for its skiing, but residents appreciate the connectivity to Stowe’s online resources. Now citizens can pay bills, ask questions, and even view historic documents online.”

According to Town Manager Charles Safford, the town hall is pretty wired these days. The town clerk’s office and the parks and recreation department both have online credit-card capabilities, whether someone wants to pay a tax bill or book some ice time. The town uploads its agendas and minutes and all sorts of supplemental documents for Stowe Select Board meetings, and the zoning office has hundreds of zoning records online. The town’s grand list is all there, too.

“Stowe’s extraordinary natural surroundings, active and growing e-economy and authentic bricks-and-mortar Main Street make it one of the best places in the world to live, work and visit,” said Lisa Hagerty, chairwoman of the select board chairwoman. “We look forward maintaining our status as a cutting-edge eCity.”

Crunching the numbers

To determine Vermont’s “strongest online business community,” Google teamed up with a global market research company, Ipsos MORI.

The companies looked for cities that are home to large numbers of AdWords customers. AdWords is the feature that Google uses to place copy near its search results. They also rated the “online strength” of a random sampling of small- and medium-size businesses. For a complete rundown on how the process worked, check out bit.ly/googlecities.

South Burlington was named Vermont’s eCity in 2013, the first year Google and Ipsos ran the numbers. This year, the numbers favored Stowe, a small town with a large percentage of its businesses really putting themselves out there on the Internet.

For a community to qualify as an eCity, “there has to be an e-presence, from your website to social media to true e-commerce,” said Larry Hall, CEO of PAR Springer-Miller said.

Find the complete list of Google’s 2014 eCities at bit.ly/ecities2014.