The City of Waterbury is poised to extend its contract with a Prospect-based marketing agency for another two years.
The WORX Group was hired six years ago to provide rebranding and marketing services for the city, with an eye toward attracting investors and improving the perception of the city broadly.
With the latest contract extension set to expire April 14, city Finance Director Michael LeBlanc is asking the Board of Aldermen to approve a new two-year extension at $225,000 annually.
“Continuity of the marketing services is particularly critical at this time as the city looks to further market the city’s downtown as a great place to live, work and play following major investments on Bank Street and the continued development of downtown apartment housing,” LeBlanc wrote in a memo to aldermen about the contract extension.
The principals of the Prospect-based marketing agency are Joe Gugliotti, of Wolcott, and Brian Klanica, of Cheshire.
WORX has supplied the city with narratives and videos about business and civic leaders, along with events calendars, information about city development programs and more — all distributed through social media and a dedicated website.
The marketing campaign website, TheWaterbury.com, launched Nov. 1, 2020, and has drawn 512,764 visits from 481,359 users, who have spent an average of 42 seconds on the site, according to information shared with aldermen.
The most popular section of the website is its commercial property search tool, followed by the homepage, events calendar and a section detailing economic development programs and incentives.
The Board of Aldermen is scheduled to consider the contract extension at its next meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. Monday.
