News

Prime donates new website to Humane Society of Cambria County

This week Prime Design Solutions launched a new website for the Humane Society of Cambria County that’s designed to better showcase the shelter’s adoptable animals, and is easier for staff to update.

“The old site wasn’t functioning well – it was hard to make changes, and didn’t work very well on mobile,” explained Jessica Vamos, executive director of the Humane Society of Cambria County. “This site is so much easier to use and maintain. For example, I can schedule posts, and that’s really important to me.”

Prime Design Solutions became aware of the Humane Society’s need through Angela Law, the firm’s operations manager, who also volunteers for the organization.

“The Humane Society needs a lot of volunteers to help them socialize the animals, and I love volunteering there as a dog walker,” Law explained. “In talking to Jessica, I found out about the need for a new website.”

The new site is built in WordPress, an open-source software that allows users to easily update and maintain it. The site is built from a template, and Prime Design Solutions added some custom features to the site to meet the Humane Society’s needs.

“The Humane Society lists adoptable animals on an online listing system called PetFinder, which is used by more than 14,000 shelters across the nation,” Law explained. “We were able to write some custom code so that the PetFinder listings look better on desktop and on mobile.”

Another special feature of the site is that shelter events posted on Facebook will be automatically listed on the website. This saves time for the Humane Society staff, keeping them from having to enter the same information twice.

“The Humane Society depends on donors and volunteers for everything we do,” Vamos said. “We are grateful to Prime Design Solutions for this major in-kind donation.”

Brian Law and Shelley Johansson to present as part of JARI’s Lunch & Learn series

We’re pleased to be featured as part of the Johnstown Area Regional Industries’ Lunch & Learn seminar series, held at noon at the JARI Center (160 Jari Drive in Richland). These affordable seminars are just $5, and are designed to help entrepreneurs and people who work for small businesses. To register, contact JARI at 266-3844.

Thurs., Oct. 31: “What’s Your Story? How to Attract and Engage Customers,” by Brian Law. Brian’s presentation will cover:

• Why storytelling makes a memorable connection
• How your brand reflects your story
• Using multiple channels to communicate your story

Thurs., Nov. 7: “The Basics of Media Relations,” by Shelley Johansson. Shelley will discuss:

• When and why you should write a press release
• The anatomy of a press release
• How press release copy is different than advertising copy
• How to prepare for a media interview
• Ways to use your press release beyond the media
• How to respond to positive and negative news attention

Brian Law to present at Small Business Summit, Oct. 3

Brian Law, president of Prime Design Solutions, will be one of the featured speakers at the Cambria Regional Chamber’s Small Business Summit, which is set for Thurs., Oct. 3 at the Holiday Inn in Downtown Johnstown. He’ll speak on Current Effective Trends in Marketing for Small Businesses.

We encourage you to consider attending this worthwhile networking opportunity!