Trading co-op helping rural businesses go global

Business is booming at Tony's Canvas and Leather, Massena.

"I just got an order from 20 hockey teams in North Carolina," said Anthony J. O'Green, who specializes in custom hockey and lacrosse bags and glove repair.

It's not just luck that he's doing well amid a national retail slump. Mr. O'Green's shop is one of several businesses tapping a global market through the Northern Adirondack Trading Cooperative, spearheaded by the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce and former U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. The cooperative helps small, rural businesses expand their markets via the Internet through training and professional support.

Coordinator Ruby J. Sprowls said small-business entrepreneurs shouldn't think a Web site on its own will bring immediate success. It takes know-how to make it work, she said.

"You're a needle in a haystack on the Internet. It's important to understand who your customers are," she said. "It's important to have a mission, a vision, and to figure out what your goals are."

The cooperative's initial focus was on eBay, an online auction house. Mrs. Sprowls said some businesses don't find eBay a useful sales venue, and the program has shifted to helping businesses develop strategies including Web development, finding financing and managing risk.

YesterYear's Vintage Doors, Hammond, was among the first businesses involved in the program. Owner Rosemary Demick says she and her family decided the program's eBay focus wasn't the right fit for their business, since they already had a focused advertising and sales plan and an Internet presence. But others need help getting that far, she said.

"I can see that it's something to stimulate the excellent artisan force in St. Lawrence County," she said. "A lot of them are individuals with nobody on the payroll, working hard just like we do."

Many businesses using the cooperative's services have few or no employees, Mrs. Sprowls said. They are cottage industries, farmers producing unique products and woodworkers and artists.

Cait A. Throop, owner of Cait Throop Designs, Potsdam, is one of them. The textile artist's fabrics and woven items are sold at several locations throughout the north country, and she is developing a Web site. The cooperative is helping.

"Working on a Web site is not my thing, and neither is photography, so I'm mostly using it for the connections," she said. "If I can get my Web site done, they've taught me enough to be able to update it."

She said Mrs. Sprowls put her in touch with other designers to help increase her exposure and marketing opportunities.

A host of partners allows the program to offer financial, marketing and planning support to businesses, Mrs. Sprowls said. Among them are the Clarkson Consulting Group, Rural Opportunities Enterprise Center Inc., SUNY Canton's Small Business Development Center and the business management and entrepreneurship program at Paul Smith's College, Paul Smiths.

Mrs. Sprowls said plans are in the works for an expo showcasing member businesses.