Washington state nonprofit, Stone Soup, launches www.shopthefrontier.org to help local residents market their handcrafted products globally

Deep in northeastern Washington state lies rural Ferry County, population 7,500, an area that has traditionally centered its economy around logging and mining. In 2003, the last local lumber mill closed, cutting 87 family-wage jobs. The last remaining mining company has had to layoff 70 workers in the last year. Many are worried that Curlew and Republic, two small communities that have depended on these extraction industries, will end up as ghost towns.

Plagued by poverty and an unemployment rate that often reaches the upper teens, Ferry County has had a particularly difficult time supporting its residents in the last few years. But one local nonprofit organization, Stone Soup, has set out to turn the strengths of these frontier communities into an effective micro enterprise strategy. They’ve launched a three-part training and marketing project which they call “The Virtual Frontier.”

Betty Buckley, who has seen the Virtual Frontier project from the ground up, understands the area and its people. Betty and her sister Jody Buckley founded Stone Soup nearly seven years ago. Raised in rural northeast Washington, the Buckley’s’ have deep rural roots. Their father’s family homesteaded in Chesaw, a tiny community in north central Okanogan County in the late 1800s. The Buckley sisters – all five of them! – were raised in Kettle Falls, a small town in the Selkirk Mountains of Northeastern Washington.

Betty realized that such talents as the ability to work across distances and make do with the resources at hand were the stuff of successful entrepreneurs. The need for technology and training was evident, so Stone Soup began offering business classes to local residents who have dreams of starting their own business or just need to jumpstart their current endeavor. The next step was to provide a market for local products and services. So with the help of funders such as the USDA and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Stone Soup launched a website.

Aptly named, http://www.shopthefrontier.org is an e-commerce website at which local residents can market their handcrafted products, artwork, and services to shoppers around the world. From homemade soaps and herbal products to western art and fine jewelry, the Virtual Frontier project website has found a way to bring the finest quality products and services from the frontier to shoppers everywhere. It has created jobs and hope for residents where before there were none.

It’s difficult to say whether mining and logging will remain at the heart of Ferry County, but the need for sustainable jobs and living wages for all residents is ever increasing. Stone Soup aims to make that a reality for as many that live in this rural area as possible. Stone Soup is bringing new frontiers in technology and entrepreneurship to the frontier.

Betty Buckley, Executive Director

Stone Soup http://www.nwstonesoup.org

(509) 690-0530

http://www.shopthefrontier.com

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