Greater Sacramento Economic Council Custom Website
Project Overview
The Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC) is a powerful economic development engine committed to accelerating growth and investment throughout the Sacramento region. While its mission is bold and future-focused, its website needed a refresh in design and function.
Our goal was simple but transformative: create a custom website experience that reflects the sophistication of the Greater Sacramento brand, while restructuring the content in a way that caters to high-level decision-makers, investors, and business leaders.
Outcomes
The collaboration GSEC and Three29 resulted in:
Strategic Content Restructuring
We began by auditing the existing content and identifying core audience journeys. By simplifying the navigation and categorizing information based on user intent, we were able to create a clean, scalable framework that serves both first-time visitors and return users alike.
Custom Design, Custom Code
Every aspect of the new website was designed from scratch. From bold, elegant typography to intelligent animations and thoughtful white space, the new site exudes confidence and clarity. No cookie-cutter templates, just an experience built entirely around GSEC’s brand voice.
Modern Aesthetic and Branding
We introduced a fresh, modern aesthetic rooted in GSEC’s existing color palette but elevated for a digital-first audience. This included high-end imagery, flexible layouts, and interactive elements designed to showcase regional data, success stories, and initiatives in a more compelling way.
Project Scope
The scope of this project was to completely redesign GSEC’s website to reflect its sophisticated, future-forward mission. Key objectives included modernizing the brand’s visual identity online, restructuring a dense and overwhelming site architecture, and creating a custom user experience that speaks directly to high-level investors and business leaders.
Our goal was to transform the site into a streamlined, strategic tool, one that better supports economic development initiatives and aligns with the council’s status as a regional powerhouse. Through a fully custom design and development process, we delivered a flexible, high-performance platform that both enhances user experience and also empowers the internal team to scale content with ease.
How We Made It Happen
Discovery Phase: We began with a comprehensive audit of the existing site, including a review of the user interface, navigation flow, content hierarchy, and overall usability. We benchmarked economic development websites across the country to understand industry expectations and identify key differentiators. This phase helped us pinpoint exactly where users were getting lost and what they were actually looking for.
Design Phase: Using insights from our assessment, we restructured the website’s information architecture to align with target audience priorities. We built wireframes and prototypes that emphasized intuitive navigation, clean content presentation, and visual storytelling. The design system modernized the brand while keeping it grounded in GSEC’s core identity, creating a high-end, credible experience from the very first click.
Development Phase: We built a fully custom WordPress website with a modular content system, enabling the client to easily manage pages without developer assistance. Special attention was paid to responsive performance, ADA compliance, and fast load times to ensure accessibility and security across all devices. The backend was tailored for scalability to allow future campaigns, data tools, and reports to be added seamlessly.
Testing and Launch: Before going live, we conducted in-depth testing to ensure pixel-perfect design, smooth functionality, and compliance with modern web standards. Our QA process covered everything from cross-browser compatibility to form validation and load speed optimization. Final reviews with the client ensured the site was technically sound and aligned with their vision for growth.
Results
The redesigned Greater Sacramento website is now a sharp, modern platform that positions the organization as a forward-thinking leader in economic development. Clear user pathways and high-impact visuals ensure that investors, business owners, and regional partners find exactly what they need.
The new website delivered a confident, branded experience that aligns with GSEC’s bold mission