Red Bank Receives Google eCity Award for New Jersey

Mountain View, CA: Red Bank is the recipient of the 2014 Google eCity Award for the State of New Jersey. The eCity Awards recognize the strongest online business communities in all fifty states. The businesses in these communities are embracing the web to find new customers, connect with existing clients and fuel their local economies. Red Bank joins the ranks of America’s leading cities in the digital economy.

“Red Bank serves as a prime example of how innovation and growth in e-commerce can successfully contribute to bolstering economic progress and competitiveness,” said Emma Ogiemwanye, a representative from Google. “Google is proud to recognize Red Bank’s accomplishment, and the role the Internet plays in creating New Jersey jobs.”

“Red Bank is extraordinarily grateful to have achieved this designation by Google. The recognition reflects the substantial strides that have been made by our small business community and cultural institutions when it comes to e-commerce and innovation,” said Mayor Pasquale “Pat” Menna. “We’re proud to be New Jersey’s digital capital and consider it a clarion call to work even harder to find new ways to do commerce in a way that benefits businesses and customers alike.”

BACKGROUND/STATISTICS:

Ninety-seven percent of Internet users look online for local products and services. Businesses need to be where their customers are and in 2014, that is online. The impact of being online is significant–businesses that are online grow twice as fast and are twice as likely to create jobs as their offline counterparts.

Google and independent research firm, Ipsos, analyzed the online strength of local small businesses across all fifty states. They weighed a variety of factors to determine the leading cities and towns across the US, including the likelihood of small businesses to have a website, use a blog, promote themselves on a social network, sell goods directly from their webpages and whether they had a mobile-friendly website. The winning cities exhibited strong engagement and potential for growth within the digital economy. This is the second year Google has announced a list of eCities for the United States. For more information visitwww.google.com/ecities.