Stone Soup’s programs
are intended to provide a boost to rural communities and the people residing in them.
Stone Soup’s goals are two-fold:
- Capacity-Building: Magnifying the entrepreneurial assets of rural communities: To enhance the abilities of residents to earn a living by training youth and adults in entrepreneurship and applied information technology. Stone Soup offers workshops and opportunities to learn by doing to assist people in making the leap from a fear of computers and computing to an understanding of how information technology can transform their lives.
- Marketing: Opening new economic opportunities: Stone Soup strives to open new markets and economic opportunities that are accessible to all rural entrepreneurs by using technology to reach new customers and to link potential business partners and suppliers. Part of our effort includes educating the public about the ways in which information technology can enhance their economic opportunities.
Stone Soup is working to meet the above goals by offering the following services:
- www.shopthefrontier.org, a web site that connects rural entrepreneurs to urban markets. Launched in November of 2005, www.shopthefrontier.org has had 1 million individual visits, 32 million hits and in 2009, over $40,000 in sales. We have over 70 members from eastern and western Washington, northern Idaho and Oregon. In addition to providing new markets, the website also provides an opportunity to train entrepreneurs on relevant technology skills and helps rural communities understand that information technology is the key to their economic future.
- Our retail Shop the Frontier gift shop is open in Republic Monday - Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The gift shop creates more than 50% of the sales for Shop the Frontier each year. The gift shop is located at 600 S. Clark Ave. in Republic, Washington. Call (509)775-3217 for more details.
- Stone Soup received a grant in 2008 from Microsoft to provide free technology training on digital photography, web design and computer basics. The curriculum used for this training is Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential. With this training and thanks to a grant from HP, Stone Soup opened a Computer Training Center in Republic, WA for our members and other interested community members.
Through these services we are creating a community of entrepreneurs who can learn and network across distance. Our programs break down communication barriers and help these communities realize their dreams of self-sufficiency and success.
