MITA Member Directory

Objective: Take a YourMembership directory somewhere YourMembership can’t

The Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association represents more than 500 companies that build and maintain Michigan’s roads, bridges, underground, and utility systems. Based in Okemos, MITA advocates for the industry in Lansing, runs safety and skilled-trades training, and connects contractors, suppliers, and associates who hire each other, partner on bids, and buy from one another every day.

Like thousands of associations, MITA runs its membership on YourMembership (YM). YM is a fine system of record, but its built-in directory wasn’t the experience MITA’s members needed: a fast, filterable way to find a certified DBE excavation contractor in a specific MDOT region, or the right contact at a supplier, from a phone on a job site with a weak signal. MITA asked Web Ascender to build that experience on top of the data they already maintain in YM.

What Web Ascender Did

Web Ascender built a YourMembership mobile directory app and a matching directory website, both running from a YourMembership export. MITA keeps managing members in YM as always. The directory takes YM’s complete member export, maps company, branch, and employee records into clean listings and contacts, and publishes them to a directory website and native mobile apps, with members signing in using the MITA website credentials they already have.

The directory website

• Search that matches how the industry hires - keyword and contact-name search plus filters for business type, member type (contractor or associate), MDOT region, MDOT prequalification classification, and certified DBE status
• Browse by service - a hundred business-type and service categories with icons, from excavation and water and sewer to aggregates and demolition, driven by data rather than code
• Rich member profiles - logo, map, services, MDOT and DBE badges, related branches, and the people to call, with contact details, phone numbers, and websites reserved for signed-in members
• YourMembership single sign-on - members authenticate against YM, so there are no separate accounts to create or passwords to manage
• Sponsorship built in - date-ranged sponsored placements across six ad slots, including category-targeted ads, with click tracking so MITA can report results to sponsors
• Usage analytics - searches, views, logins, and ad clicks recorded so staff can see what members actually use

The YourMembership mobile directory app

• iOS and Android apps for MITA members, launched in 2025, with the same search, filters, and profiles as the web
• Built for the job site - the app downloads the full directory to the device, so members can find critical contacts even with limited or no connectivity
• Push notifications - staff send announcements with optional deep links straight to members’ phones
• A JSON API designed for the apps, with token authentication, batched usage reporting, and everything the apps need to sync

Behind the scenes

• Import, not integration headaches - staff upload the YM export and the importer de-duplicates listings, attaches employees to the right company, normalizes phone numbers, splits services and prequalifications, supports parent and child accounts, and logs anything it couldn’t match
• Admin control - featured listings, ad scheduling, contact-title ordering, and push notifications, all from an admin console
• Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, and Hotwire, hosted and maintained by Web Ascender

The Outcome

MITA members find each other faster: the right contractor for a scope, the right contact at a supplier, a prequalified partner in the right MDOT region, from a desk or from the cab of a truck. MITA didn’t have to leave YourMembership or re-key a single record to get there, and sponsors now have a directory worth advertising in.

A YourMembership mobile directory app for any association

The MITA directory was built to be reused. Branding, categories, and YM connection details are configuration, not code, so an association running on YourMembership can have a modern, searchable, member-authenticated web directory and mobile apps on top of the membership data it already maintains. If your YM directory isn’t working for your members, let’s talk.