In a small town, word travels fast. Apison resident Rob Hoppe is hoping to speed up that process by creating a town website.
“The selfish reason for creating the website is I wanted to know what was going on out here,” he said. “You get to know your neighbors and the people at church, but the only way to learn about business and things going on in the community is by talking to people.”
Hoppe said he hopes the website will help centralize information and provide an outlet for certain types of information that aren’t always widespread in the community.
“People want to know what’s going on out here, but it may not be newsworthy enough for the newspaper,” he said. “Unless you live here it’s hard to know what’s going on.”
The new website, www.apisontn.com, is currently under construction as Hoppe works to add business listings, school information, church details and forums for residents to discuss issues or promote upcoming events.
He is currently soliciting submissions from community members and business owners at apisontn@gmail.com and on the town’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/apison.tn.
“I don’t want to put businesses on there that don’t want to be there,” he said. “But I felt there was a real need here and I am more than willing to help.”
Hoppe, who works as a corporate pilot, said he has dabbled in website creation before and enjoys working on the project when he’s away on business and looking for something to do in a hotel room. He started the town’s Facebook page a few months ago, but decided to implement the website to provide more thorough information and allow people anonymity.
“The Facebook page works well, but not everyone uses Facebook and some people want to step away from it,” he said. “This way, with the website, people can use it and participate in the forums without giving away all of your information the way you do on Facebook.”