It is touted by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, as a small but important success from her time in Congress - a program designed to transition small businesses in upstate New York into the world of e-commerce. But while the Senator holds up the initiative as an example of inventive economic thinking, the successes of the program have been largely elusive.
The Northern Adirondack Trading Cooperative was conceived in 2003 from the notion that local artisans could tap into a wider consumer base by selling their crafts on eBay. Three years later more than 80 businesses had signed up with the NATC. But of those, only four have added jobs. A few have turned marginal profits through e-commerce but the majority of stores have had limited or no Internet outreach.
"I would love to say all our businesses were successful. What we learned was that not every business was right for eBay," said Ruby Sprowls, the business development officer of the NATC. "You can lead the horse to water but you can't make it drink."
All of the participants interviewed by the Huffington Post stressed that Sen. Clinton was not to blame. Her participation in the program involved organizing partners and funding, and making the occasional upstate visit. A few shop owners, in fact, cited her involvement as the sole reason for an uptick in sales. And yet, despite the NATC's apparent shortcomings and unmet expectations, Clinton has held up the program as a modern, small town economic success story.
"In the first year of this project we have helped businesses grow, we've brought new jobs and we have showcased some of the skills and talents of the people of the North Country... And maybe even more importantly, we have shown that the North Country is part of the global economy," Clinton said while in the Senate.
More recently, on the campaign trail she said: "I was scratching my head one day wondering what we could do to bring more jobs and more economic prosperity to some of these small towns. And I thought 'well, maybe I could put some of these businesses on eBay... So we set up a trading cooperative. We picked 15 companies. They'd never been on the Internet. They'd never bought anything on eBay. But we worked with them and we put them all up on the Internet. Five of them couldn't figure out how to do it. It's complicated. Five did okay. And five did really well."
The issues that faced the NATC underscore some of the challenges both Democrats and Republicans face in recruiting rural voters. Upstate New York, especially St. Lawrence County, is a traditionally farming-based community. As the economy in the region has grown increasingly unstable, politicians from both sides of the aisle have sought to find new mechanisms for commerce.
The NATC was envisioned by Clinton a fusion of economic principles; the combination of state assistance with Internet-age market tools. The program runs on a $190,000 annual stipend from the federal government along with discretionary funds from affiliated partners. Participants attend twice-weekly classes - for 26 weeks - on topics regarding e-commerce. The nearby University of Clarkson provides student interns and technological help, while Hewlett Packard and other companies have offered up computers, digital cameras and other tools.
In interviews with the Huffington Post, business owners who participated in the NATC described the program as well intentioned but poorly implemented. After money was secured from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Senator Clinton worked with the St. Lawrence Chamber of Commerce to arrange for high-profile companies to provide tools and mentorship. There were, they said, moments of success. But those were often measured in knowledge gained rather than in dollars earned.
"What I discovered is that my product really isn't that great on eBay. It's a soap. It's the scent that sells it. My best way of doing e-commerce is to maintain relationships with the people who have tried my product," said Sandy Maine, owner of the Sunfeather Natural Soap Company, one of the few businesses to add to its employment rolls.
"Senator Clinton got involved, she came to the store, and we made some contacts. But this was not a success story," said another participant who asked to remain anonymous.
"While the intentions were good the results were mixed," added Ron Rogers who runs Rogers Company Emporium, "It was not the cure all by any stretch. A lot of people go into it thinking they are going to make a fortune out of it but that's just not the case."
Sen. Clinton's congressional office was called multiple times for comment. None were returned.
While in the Senate, Clinton frequently visited St. Lawrence County to follow up on the NATC's progress. She even helped expand the initiative to other New York counties. Her work in the area has set her apart from other Democrats - northern New York is traditionally Republican - and earned her a groundswell of political support. It has also been cited as an example of how she could compete with Republicans for rural voters. Indeed, in a recent Siena College poll, 54 percent of New Yorkers said they would support Clinton in the 2008 election as opposed to 36 percent for former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.
"Hillary Clinton has been a pioneer in terms of politicizing this part of the state," said Clarkson University political science professor Christopher Robinson. "In her first senatorial campaign, she made it a point to be very visible in this area and it paid off handsomely in this area in terms of votes. She became the first Democrat in this area to really address rural issues. I think between the [NATC] initiative and her work in this area we are beginning to see some cultural shifts."