The city of Bonney Lake has put together its first citywide business directory as part of its Shop Bonney Lake initiative.

Executive Assistant Brian Hartsell said the idea was to do something to help support local businesses during the recession.

“For those businesses that don’t have a web presence this gives them one,” Hartsell said.

Linked from the “Business” section of the city’s web page, residents and shoppers can search by type of business and get a map showing all of the businesses of that type within city limits.

Hartsell said the information is pulled from the city’s master business license list and plugged into the maps through the city’s Geographic Information Services department.

Businesses can log in and modify the information on the site about their business, adding a logo, coupons, job postings and links to their website and social media pages.

“This will push potential customers to their own website,” Hartsell said, adding that the city’s site gets approximately 9,000 unique hits every month.

Hartsell said the directory is designed to show the city as “business friendly” and encouraging residents to shop in city limits means not only additional revenue for businesses in the city, but also increased tax revue for the city itself.

Of the 536 businesses in the directory, Hartsell said about 60 have registered since the directory went live in late February.

The service is free to businesses with active business licenses and is designed so that as new businesses come to town, new links can be added.

“We would like to encourage residents and businesses to shop local and this directory will help them find what they are looking for,” Hartsell said.