Downtown Ortonville Website Showcases Businesses, Events, History and Opportunities
(Lara Mossa, Jan. 26, 2025)
Ortonville, MI – The Ortonville Downtown Development Authority launched a new website late last year to help people connect to the Downtown, including businesses and events.
“It’s still a work in progress,” said Matt Jenkins, Executive Director of the DDA. “There is still plenty of updating we’re doing to the site.”
One of the main functions of the site is the community calendar, which local businesses and community groups use. In addition, the site invites local businesses to create a free profile that allows them to advertise their business, products, locations and social media platforms, Jenkins said.
The website also talks about the community’s history, “Our quaint little community received its name from our founder Amos Orton whose grist mill inspired people to settle and build in this area,” the site says. There’s also a page with more detailed history and pictures, like the town’s oldest house that is still standing, built in 1851.
Another main feature of the website are blog posts that can be integrated right into the downtown newsletter. There are links to subscribe to the newsletter and learn about volunteer opportunities, grant opportunities for businesses, and more.
“With anything new, it takes a little bit of time to know where everything is,” Jenkins said. “That was the case with this new site. But it’s the easiest website I’ve ever worked with.”
The functionality of the site saves time, Jenkins added, and increases exposure for the community.
Downtown Ortonville has 36 businesses that include shops along Mill Street and South Street, as well as some on M-15.
“The ability to provide value to local businesses and community groups can’t be overstated,” he said. “We see this as a valuable digital tool that can improve communication in the community and support our local businesses and community groups.”
Downtown Ortonville has had a website since 2016, when Jenkins took over as executive director. The DDA developed the new site with the digital platform Locable, which is a Main Street America affiliated vendor. Ortonville is an accredited Main Street organization through Main Street Oakland County, which is an association dedicated to improving downtowns.
Locable had a lot of setup tools that allowed the DDA to select preferences from layouts to components and color, Jenkins explained. The website took about three weeks to update, which included converting and editing information from the old site to the new, and the DDA announced the completion of the project in the digital newsletter on January 6th.
They paid for the project with help from a Main Street Connected Grant, which is a matching grant funded by Main Street Oakland County and the MSU Federal Credit Union. New last year, the grant supports technology in Main Street organizations and local businesses, Jenkins said. Ortonville received $2,250 and matched another $2,250 to develop the site.
While local businesses can have a free online presence, they will be able to upgrade their profiles by the end of the first quarter, Jenkins added. Ortonville is going to offer mini grants later this year to help businesses with that goal.
One upcoming event that will surely be advertised on the site is the Winter Market, which is a strolling market with existing downtown retailers as well as additional vendors in each of the stores and the old town hall. Happening twice a month in February, March and April, the first one will be February 1st.
To check out the website, go to www.downtownortonville.org.
