Home = =C2=BB Blogs =C2=BB Bryan's blog

Using Wordpress city saves $19,000

Submitted by Bryan on January = 20, 2009 -=20 6:25am

This is a really cool story on how local governments can improve = their=20 presence on the Internet and save money using open source = software. The City of Albert Lea needed = to improve=20 their website but the small Minnesota city was facing project costs of = $10,000=20 to $30,000. In walks Wordpress being=20 utilized as a full content management system. As reported by the = Albert=20 Lea Tribune:

Some cities pay a consultant $10,000, $20,000, even $50,000 for a = Web-based=20 content-management site that looks professional and is consistent = through and=20 through. Fairbault is one instance.

Albert Lea, however, paid $720 to local resident Jeshua Erickson = last=20 December, she said. Kauffmann was in charge of the site=E2=80=99s = revision, and last=20 October she put together a committee of city officials to advise = her.

She said the committee decided to shoot for a site using a content=20 management system =E2=80=94 or CMS =E2=80=94 but it was outside of her = Internet skills. The=20 city began seeking estimates from Web design companies. When the = estimates=20 returned, they realized the city couldn=E2=80=99t afford it.

=E2=80=9CWe just didn=E2=80=99t feel we could justify spending = $20,000-plus on a Web site,=E2=80=9D=20 Kauffmann said. =E2=80=9CI happened to run into Jeshua Erickson on the = Pelican Breeze=20 one day, and we talked about Web sites and how he was developing them = using=20 WordPress.=E2=80=9D

I'll have to say that even though Wordpress is open source and = "free", this=20 city got a steal with getting a website for under $1000. While = Albert Lea=20 is a small city, developing government sites can become big projects = with lots=20 of complications. Either the city was kind to the developer and = his hours=20 or he felt some civil duty to give the city's taxpayers a good = deal. An=20 example of this developer doing such a good job, Albert Lea's website is = currently running Wordpress 2.7 which is the latest available version of = Wordpress. Very well done Mr. Erickson.

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January = 20, 2009 -=20 11:09pm.

Looks like Matt picked up on this story: http://ma.tt/2009/01/albert-= lea-wp/

reply=20

thanks!

Submitted by Jeshua Erickson (not verified) on January 22, 2009 - = 1:52pm.=20

Thanks so much for your positive article about our project for the = City of=20 Albert Lea! I love WordPress, as you might be able to guess, so getting=20 Wordpress working for a city website was quite rewarding. And, yes, it = did take=20 a bit of work. :)

reply =

Thanks=20 for the thanks

Submitted by Bryan on January 24, 2009 - 11:21pm. =

Jeshua, glad you stopped by and left a comment. It is always nice to = "meet"=20 the people behind the story. Keep up the good work!

reply=20

free=20 mmorpg

Submitted by free=20 mmorpg (not verified) on January 24, 2009 - 1:10pm.

Honestly, there is no justification for a public entity to spend = $10,000 for=20 a website. Its irresponsible, that's our tax dollars!

Kudos to the city of Albert Lea, I hope more schools, municipal = governments,=20 and other government entities follow suit.

Wordpress is indeed powerful. I've been using it for all my projects = with a=20 great deal of success.

reply =

I=20 think all the kudos go to

Submitted by HarryB on January 25, 2009 - 6:23am. =

I think all the kudos go to Jeshua Erickson rather than the city of = Albert=20 Lea. It is a bargain beyond belief made possible by Jeshua's "donation" = of his=20 time and skills.

Even if it only took 40 hours of his time to design and build the = site (which=20 I'm sure is a ridiculously low estimate), they only paid $18.75/hour for = his=20 work.

Don't know about your locale, but where I live it is not uncommon to = pay=20 anywhere between $50.00 to $100.00 per hour for the services of a = competent and=20 reliable web site designer.

reply=20

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