April 21, 2010
Award Winning Site Features New Small Business Resource Center, Help for Constituents,
Top News and Events
WASHINGTON, DC — The Web site ofU.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) was recognized for the second time bythe Congressional Management Foundation (CMF), for having one of the best Web sites in Congress. CMF analyzed all 620 congressional Web sites, including those of all Senate and House Members, committees (both majority and minority sites), and official leadership sites. Perlmutter’ssite, www.Perlmutter.house.gov was one of only 135 websites commended by CMF in its 111 th Congress Gold Mouse Project.
“We don’t want to be quiet as a mouse on this one,” Perlmutter stated. “I want all of my constituents to know our website is an extension of my office where they can find A to Z information on everything from tax breaks available to them, rebates for energy efficient appliances to how to get social security benefits, and most importantly how to contact and stay in touch with me. In addition to my Government in the Grocery Program, my website is an important tool for me to use to stay in touch with people at home in the 7 th Congressional District and learn about the issues important to them. I am honored to win this award for a second time.”
In an effort to continually innovate and maximize the information available on his website, Rep. Perlmutter’s office just launched a brand new Small Business Resource Center with information about:
- How to take advantage of new tax breaks for small businesses included in the health insurance bill;
- Recovery and HIRE Act tax breaks available in 2010 and beyond for small businesses; and
- Financial Resources and loans available to Small Businesses.
Perlmutter continued, “I take pride in using internet resources to help my constituents and the small business community. Small businesses are the economic engine of our economy. I want to make sure the hard working people in the 7 th Congressional District and throughout Colorado have the tools and resources they need to start and maintain their businesses, which will in turn put people to work in good paying jobs.”
The 111 th Congress Gold Mouse Awards are part of CMF’s Partnership For A More Perfect Union, which seeks to improve the quality of communication between Members and their constituents. For this project CMF partnered with researchers from the Harvard Kennedy School, Northeastern University, University of California–Riverside, and the Ohio State University to study how Members of Congress can use the Internet to improve communications with their constituents and to promote greater participation in the legislative process.
“Perlmutter’s Web site shows that he understands how to meet the needs of his district online,” said Beverly Bell, CMF’s Executive Director. “The Congressional Management Foundation congratulates Perlmutter for having a Web site that is among the best on Capitol Hill, and we are pleased to present Congressman Ed Perlmutter with the 111 th Congress Silver Mouse Award.”
Web sites were graded on how well they incorporate five core principles that CMF identified through extensive research as critical for effectiveness: know your audience, provide timely and targeted content that meets their needs, make the site easy to use, foster interaction both on and offline, and add value through innovation.
Using these core principles, an evaluation framework was developed by CMF and their research partners, which would be fair and objective while still taking into account important qualitative factors that affect a visitor's experience on a Web site.
The 111 th Congress Gold Mouse Project report, a full listing winners, and other comparative data is available on CMF’s Partnership For A More Perfect Union Web site at www.pmpu.org.
