Stimulus program fails shop owner

SOUTH COLTON — A local businesswoman who spent two years trying to revitalize downtown has shuttered her two businesses, quashing a dream to make the picturesque hamlet a destination for tourists.

Linda M. Dunning said she closed the Sunday Rock Coffee Shop and the Adirondack Artisans recently because she was unsuccessful in persuading banks, the U.S. Small Business Administration or officials at the state's Community Development Block Grant office to lend a hand.

"I went to three different banks to try for some of the stimulus money that had been given to the Small Business Administration, for small, struggling businesses to use for help," Ms. Dunning said. "I got turned away every time."

Ms. Dunning is arguably South Colton's biggest cultural cheerleader. Born and raised in the hamlet of a few dozen homes, she began her crafts shop in May 2007 with six artisans willing to sell their wares on consignment.

Within a year she more than doubled her floor space, and was offering a wide array of traditional north country crafts ranging from hand-hewn rustic furniture to paintings, ceramics and jewelry.

She later expanded more, opening a diner and coffee shop, a bakery and an ice cream counter.

Ms. Dunning's long-term goal was to bring wireless technology into the hamlet, fabled to be the last bastion of civilization before heading into the big Adirondack woods below, and attract tourists all four seasons of the year.

Then the economy tanked. Money got tight, and Ms. Dunning went looking for help.

Help, she said, she didn't find.

"There were other factors that played into this loss, but none as strongly as the slow-moving cogs of government," Ms. Dunning said. "New York state advertises in all of their Web sites that it loves small business, and yet it seems that the people I have talked to about aid for their small business have yet to see any help."

She said she was dismayed to find out that federal stimulus money, turned over to banks from the Small Business Administration to aid small businesses in getting back on their feet, was denied to her because she had bills stacking up.

"(But) the monies are intended to aid in catching up the overdue bills. A true Catch-22," Ms. Dunning said.

She also sought grant money from the state, but found the process of applying not only complicated, but too slow.

"Grants, intended to help, are so burdensome that the small business owners cannot devote the time to do it themselves, nor can they afford to hire someone to do it for them," she said. The town of Colton and Adirondack Artisans "were working with the Community Development Block Grant office for over 18 months before an invitation to apply was given."

Ms. Dunning said by that time, the owner of the building she rented had issued an eviction notice.

"The landlady felt it was a 'pie in the sky' effort and evicted us so she could put her property back on the market," Ms. Dunning said.

Because of her ordeal, Ms. Dunning has launched a drive for other small-business owners with similar stories, in hopes of persuading state officials to move more quickly in helping struggling north country businesses. She is asking other small-business owners who have asked for and been denied stimulus money to tell their stories by sending an e-mail to nysmallbusiness@gmail.com.

"We need to make our voices heard and see that the north country is not blocked due to the scarcity in population but to be entitled because of our determination to succeed," she said.