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October 17, 2005

Next: Connecting the dots | Tracy Michaud Stutzman, executive director, Maine Highlands Guild, Dover-Foxcroft

By Taylor Smith
Go to any country fair in Maine, and chances are good that you'll find an exhibit hall or tent filled with crafts like handmade quilts or maple syrup confections made from an heirloom recipe. While those crafts are likely seen as a part of the folksy charm of events like the Fryeburg Fair or the Piscataquis Valley Fair, Tracy Michaud Stutzman sees them as integral and irreplaceable parts of the local culture. And as part of that culture, those crafts can help boost the economy of a particular region, says Stutzman.

At least, that's the conclusion she came to during a 1999 research stint with the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council. Stutzman, a 31-year-old Dover-Foxcroft native with a doctorate in cultural anthropology, studied how micro-enterprises could affect the local economy, and found a staggering number of people running small, home-based businesses selling small batches of angora mittens, hand-braided wool rugs or brownie batter. But the problem was that many of these craftspeople didn't know they were running ˆ— or, with a little tweaking, could be running ˆ— a full-fledged business. "These are things you can potentially make a living at when the mills shut down or when there doesn't seem like a lot of opportunity," says Stutzman. "There were a lot of artists who said, 'I do this, and I sell some on the side, but that's about it.' But with some education, you can actually take that business to the next step, and I think that's been a real eye opener."

Injecting some entrepreneurial thinking into these small-scale craft businesses has been a goal of the Maine Highlands Guild, a nonprofit organization that Stutzman helped found in 2002. Based in Dover-Foxcroft, the guild counts as members more than 100 artisans in the Maine Highlands area, which encompasses Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. Through workshops and active marketing of members' products, the guild aims to help artisans navigate the commercial market for their goods while also educating the larger community about the region's cultural heritage.

In essence, the guild is creating an industry out of formerly disconnected individual artisans. This creative attention to Maine's underserved traditional artisans should serve as a model for policymakers and economic developers looking for ways to buttress Maine's rural economy. "Most of the artists are really talented at making a product," says Stutzman, the guild's executive director. "But most didn't go to school for business education, so we try to fill in that gap. If they don't know how to market that great product, it won't be a viable business in the end."

Though Stutzman lacks statistical data about the guild's economic impact ˆ— she says a study is forthcoming ˆ— she says the guild has helped member businesses book more than $100,000 in sales. And in a 2003 pitch to the National Social Venture Competition at Columbia University in New York, Stutzman told judges that every dollar invested in the guild returned $38 in community-wide economic and social benefits. (The pitch ended up winning the guild a $25,000 grand prize, which helped fund the group's startup.) What's more, Stutzman estimates that the guild currently is working with roughly 25% of the 400 or so working artists in Piscataquis County.

While the Maine Highlands Guild has taken bits and pieces of operational wisdom from a handful of regional arts organizations, including the Southern Highland Craft Guild in Asheville, N.C., Stutzman says the organization has gone a step further by combining education, economic development initiatives and real-world sales opportunities for its members. That approach, she says, is ultimately necessary for an organization like the Maine Highlands Guild, which operates in a largely rural setting without a built-in market that other groups such as the Southern Highland Craft Guild enjoy. For example, the highways in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties, while unique in their own right, can't hold a candle to the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina as far as tourism goes. "The Blue Ridge Parkway has four million people traveling on it every year," says Stutzman. "We don't have that market."

As a result, Stutzman's strategy is to work with state tourism officials to build more of an identity for the Maine Highlands region. And if more tourists are drawn to the region, Stutzman wants the Maine Highlands Guild and its artisans to be there when they arrive. "People are realizing that inland Maine is a huge untapped resource for tourism," says Stutzman. "There are small events where we can educate the community, but these are little steps and it will take a long time."

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