This site as developed for Buy Alaska to “assist businesses, consumers, and government entities with finding competitive Alaskan sources for goods and services.”  GeoNorth completed this project in early 2001 with continued enhancements and support.

GeoNorth designed and developed a website for Buy Alaska to “assist businesses, consumers, and government entities with finding competitive Alaskan sources for goods and services.” GeoNorth completed the original project in early 2001, with continued enhancements and support over the ensuing years.  During the summer of 2007 GeoNorth began work with Buy Alaska to modernize the site and dramatically enhance its functionality and usability.

The new website now provides sellers with an intuitive interface for creating and maintaining their business profile, news and specials, and contact information including a link to their own website.

The buyer interface utilizes a Google-like search, tailored to allow both retail and corporate buyers to quickly search the seller profiles to locate Alaskan vendors providing specific goods or services. The buyer can then click through to the sellers’ websites to get more information or purchase online. It also provides a buyer area, which allows purchasing agents and others to search for products and services made in Alaska that might fit their needs. These searches result in referrals to the members.

The original site was built on a Microsoft SQL Server and IIS backend using HTML, ColdFusion and JavaScript. The new site provides a one hundred percent Open Source solution using Linux, Apache HTTP Server, PostgreSQL, and Ruby on Rails. These components allowed GeoNorth to deliver a truly state of the art, web 2.0 solution, while maximizing development efficiency and minimizing overall costs.