Web design expert is chairing the upcoming MHDA holiday tree-lighting virtual event

By Jim Zelony

Jim Zelony

My name is Jim Zelony, the newest board member to join the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. I am the co-founder of ZK Web Design in Morgan Hill. My company specializes in designing and building websites for small to medium sized businesses, with an emphasis on optimization and digital marketing. I have made a successful business out of moving clients from expensive developer-only maintainable websites to platforms that are new and easy to manage.

ZK Web Design builds and develops SEO (search engine optimization) for our clients to “get found on the web” including through LinkedIn B2B business pages, Google Maps, Google My Business, and Facebook. We also create visually engaging websites that are optimized for mobile devices. Today, roughly 50 percent of people use their phones for Google searches or to find listings of local businesses.

I have lived here for more than 20 years, although I’m originally from the Midwest. I have two children and my son attends Ann Sobrato High School.

Prior to COVID-19, I was a technical support volunteer at the Centennial Recreation Center’s Senior Center for several years. I was also actively involved for many years with Second Harvest Food Bank and the Diabetes Society in San Jose.

I originally became invested in MHDA when Jodi Hall, MHDA board member and proprietor of Bike Therapy, reached out to me to design a modernized, more robust website for MHDA. The project involved moving the website to a more cost-effective platform, allowing nearly autonomous client operability.

As the MHDA director of IT support and web management, I implement website updates, produce videos and content, provide on-call technical support, and provide ideas for MHDA’s bi-weekly email.

I am also currently chairing the upcoming MHDA holiday tree-lighting virtual event. At MHDA, we want to ensure that despite the pandemic our city residents will be able to feel the holiday spirit that resides within, even if we can no longer have the annual Kiwanis Holiday of Lights Parade and a public gathering for the official tree lighting event.

I joined MHDA because I thoroughly enjoy working with the other board members who are not only very professional but also dedicated and passionate. I subscribe to their vision of creating an engaging and vibrant downtown community in the heart of Morgan Hill.

My hopes for the future of downtown include continued growth and community support for our local eateries, unique pubs, and stylish shops. Our downtown district is the heart and soul of our community and I engage in the desire to preserve that tradition.

Interacting with MHDA and supporting the downtown community has been a great experience and I highly recommend it to any individual, especially local business owners.

Membership benefits include advertising opportunities, local engagement through MHDA-sponsored events, and the ability to vocalize concerns and ideas regarding downtown and city policy changes. We are comprised of a broad range of stakeholders including downtown businesses, property holders, government agencies and community members, are pro-business and pro-community, and hope you will join us to promote and advocate for a healthy and engaging downtown experience.

Join us at www.mhdowntown.org.

MHDA director Jim Zelony is co-founder of ZK WebDesign in Morgan Hill. He worked at Cisco and several Silicon Valley startups. He is a CAPE business program graduate at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business.