Virginia Interactive Develops Award Winning Mobile Application for Windows Phone 7

Virginia Interactive today announced the Virginia Grown mobile application for Windows Phone 7 has been honored by Microsoft as the "Public Sector Application of the Week.” The mobile application helps bridge the gap between Virginia’s agriculture and today’s consumer by providing a fast and user-friendly route to locally grown and produced items.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) created the Virginia Grown program to promote fresh Virginia agricultural products such as fruits, vegetables, peanuts and more. In this fast-paced technological age, Virginia’s agricultural industry is eager to showcase its fresh bounty and diversity. The creation of the Virginia Grown mobile application is a natural evolution to the Virginia Grown interactive website by placing the power of the website into the hands of Virginia’s citizens.

Using the Virginia Grown mobile application, citizens can conveniently locate fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and many more items within seconds by including mapping and driving directions to locate farms, roadside stands or farmers’ markets in their immediate vicinity using the device’s geo location service. While visiting an agriculture destination, citizens can save the market as a favorite as well as share through social media outlets.

"The Virginia Grown mobile application is a first-of-its-kind,” said Olivia Wilson, Promotions and Marketing Coordinator. "We are not aware of any other state that offers a similar application to locate farm-fresh products on a consumer’s smart phone. The Virginia Grown app allows Virginia agricultural producers to communicate directly with end-users, allowing them to share their specific messages and product profiles with the public.”

Along with the geo location service, the Virginia Grown mobile application allows for a flexible search by keyword, market type and location. It quickly accesses details for search results including hours of operation, products available, address and contact information.

About Virginia Interactive

Virginia.gov is a mutually beneficial contractual relationship established between the Virginia Information Technology Agency’s (VITA) and Virginia Interactive, LLC. Virginia Interactive, a subsidiary of NIC, manages the portal and develops eGovernment solutions for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

About NIC

NIC is the nation's leading provider of government websites, online services and secure payment processing solutions. The company's innovative eGovernment services help reduce costs and increase efficiencies for government agencies, citizens and businesses across the country. The NIC family of companies provides eGovernment solutions for more than 3,000 federal, state and local agencies across the United States. Additional information is available at http://www.egov.com.