It features a master calendar to help members stay up to date on business-related events.

The site also provides its members instant-message capability, and online polls will be conducted.

Black said press releases from businesses will be posted after they are checked to ensure suitability.

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

The only fee on the site is to list a business in the BizConnect directory, which has a one-time cost of $25.

The listing will include business details, a map of its location and an area where the business can post text, ads or other content, which can be updated as often as needed at no charge.

POPULAR SUBJECT

Black, who has been in charge of the paper's Web site since it launched at the start of 1999, can track story-readership numbers.

For the most part, there were no surprises over the years -- big stories got big numbers, he said.

"One thing I noticed is that anything related to economic development gets surprisingly heavy readership," Black said, leading him to look for ways to expand on that.

He started discussion with the paper's publisher, Robert Parks, and was given the go-ahead to develop a conceptual design in the last quarter of 2007.

"Aaron Stanley's the one who's done all the technical work," Black said.

He said there's been a positive reaction from everyone he's had look at the site.

"I think this will be of interest to all public officials," Black said.

"This gives people a chance to share their opinion. I think businesses will be eager to present their point of view on a lot of topics. I think it's going to have a lot of impact on the community."