WESTBROOK – Westbrook will be touted in print and online advertising as part of a new marketing campaign to bring more business to the city.

The campaign “is part of the ongoing effort to promote the city of Westbrook,” said Bill Baker, assistant city administrator business and community relations.

The city recently helped develop a 30-second commercial and also a print advertisement that will go in the Maine Economic Development Guide, an annual magazine that will feature the positive economic news occurring in the state.

The City Council voted to approve an $8,780 marketing budget during its meeting on Monday.

Baker said the Westbrook Environmental Improvement Corp. had previously appropriated $35,887 to be used for both the marketing campaign and the city’s newly redesigned website, another piece of the marketing campaign.

“We all felt that the new marketing initiative was an important investment that we were happy to be a part of,” said Steve Noyes, a Westbrook Environmental Improvement Corp board member. “With a potential turn in the economy and businesses ready to spend money, it is important to make sure that these businesses know that Westbrook is a prime location.”

According to Baker and Kari Quill, an integrated media manager at Journal Communications, the Tennessee-based publishing firm behind the Maine Economic Development Guide and the new commercial, Westbrook’s new ads will prominently feature some of the city’s biggest and most-well known businesses, like Sappi Fine Paper of North America, Idexx and RMS Disability.

The 30-second commercial, which will be seen online at the Maine Economic Development Guide, features still images of families gathering at Westbrook’s annual Together Days fair, people working and a crowd at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center, with the words “Live,” “Learn,” “Work” and “Play.”

Along with featuring local people and businesses, the commercial features music by John O’Hara, a recent graduate of Westbrook High School who is heading to Berklee College of Music in Boston this fall, where he will major in film scoring and possibly composition.

“Wanting to be a composer for digital media, I saw this as an opportunity and submitted what music of mine I thought would be most appropriate for the project,” O’Hara said.

O’Hara was asked to contribute to the commercial in April, after Lynda Adams, city clerk, heard he had composed a piece for the high school band. The 30-second snippet featured in the commercial is part of a larger piece he composed in January.

Westbrook is not the only municipality taking part in the Economic Development Guide, but is the only community to be featured in a commercial. Ellsworth. Augusta, South Portland, Skowhegan and Bridgton, Rockland, and Camden will also be included in the print piece.

The guide will feature articles promoting the state to businesses that are looking for a place to relocate.

“This is going to be used as a business tool by the state,” said Drew Morris, media contact for the state. “Certainly their [Journal Communications] approach on covering the key points of the state is what businesses will be interested in. There will be articles on transportation infrastructure, for one. It will be just a variety of things they can write about and promote.”

Morris said Journal Communications, which has produced economic guides for many other states, approached Maine with the idea of growing its business base with the publication. So far, he hasn’t seen any content or finished advertisements written by Journal Communications, which must get the state’s approval before going in to the magazine.

“Between the editorial content and the advertisements, the publication will also be a great resource guide for those in the state. And we’re especially pleased that Westbrook is participating, proving that they’re committed to their well-deserved ‘business-friendly’ certification received last year,” Morris said.

The guide will be an annual magazine that can potentially reach more than 10,000 people, according to Quill.

Quill spent nearly three months in Maine, traveling all over the state to meet with different interested municipalities and get a feel for life here.

According to Quill, the publication should be completed by the end of November.