The Local Project Looks to Bring App-Based ‘Web Localization’ to Mill Valley

A pair of Mill Valley residents are hoping to put their hometown at the forefront of a new tech venture seeking to “advance the local Internet” via a mobile app that connects businesses and civic organizations with residents.

The Local Project, which was first conceived by executives at Houston, Texas-based ENet Technologies in September 2015, is a crowdsourcing effort focused on “web localization.” The venture hopes to create a one-stop shop for a variety of services, including a directory of businesses and organizations, listings for local discounts and a reservation- or appointment-booking system for businesses like restaurants, salons and auto repair shops. The location-based app would allow users to enter their zip code and select the mileage range within which the app would include businesses and organizations.

​Local residents Ashly Sylvia and Kirk Bogle, the latter of whom is the brother of one of the company’s founders, are in the midst of reaching out to businesses who want them to build their profiles on the platform. Sylvia and Bogle plan to officially launch The Local Project app in Marin in November.

“There are just so many great local businesses here in Mill Valley,” Sylvia says. “We used to go to the city all the time but there’s so many places right here in town. Our goal is to create a better connection between those businesses and local organizations and their customers.”

The couple acknowledges that there are other tech ventures hoping to become the go-to community hub on the Internet, but they say they’re squarely focused on connecting businesses and local organizations with residents, not becoming a quasi-Craigslist or Nextdoor.

“We don’t want it to devolve into a public chat room – this is going to be something that is a curated platform that connects residents with businesses and community organizations,” Bogle says.

The Local Project app will allow businesses to offer rewards programs, a great way to incentivize customers but often a costly way for individual businesses to do so by themselves, Bogle says. “The ability to book an appointment with my barber through the app and know that he’s part of a rewards program – that’s what we all need.”

The 411: The Local Project launches in Marin in November. MORE INFO. Find the app here. Reach Ashly Sylvia at 415-260-4432, asylvia@localproject.net and Kirk Bogle at 415-370-5843, kbogle@localproject.net. 

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