Posted by BEN BEAUMONT – Clinton School students Chance Williams, Sarah Argue and Julie West were highlighted in today’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for their work on Arkansas DeltaMade, a business initiative to promote products made in the Arkansas Delta region. Click here to read the article. Here’s an excerpt:
The program is designed to benefit both artisans and entrepreneurs in the Delta, said Beth Wiedower, field representative with the National Trust. Instead of being sold online in a centralized Web site, the products are placed on the shelves of local retailers. Many have downtown storefronts like drug stores and gift shops. Shop owners gain a tourist-friendly niche that separates them from big-box retailers.
“You are taking home a piece of the Delta,” Wiedower said of people who buy the products, “and you are also supporting the local economy.” The products include items such as honey, BBQ rubs and sauces, paintings, photographs, wood carvings, handbags, jewelry, produce, rice and crawfish and reproductions of antique flower girl dresses.
The Clinton School students are working on the DeltaMade program for one of their required public-service projects as they pursue their master’s degrees. They’ve helped the program progress further, faster, Wiedower said. The students have gathered information from the craftsmen and retailers about what they need to become more stable and successful.
“They are the ones who are meeting one-on-one with the shop owner or the potter or the salsa maker,” Wiedower said.
The DeltaMade program was launched in October through the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Rural Heritage Development Initiative (RHDI). A branding and promotional program, DeltaMade includes 16 retail locations and 25 locally made art, crafts and food products. The products represent the culture, heritage and rich tradition of the Delta region, a place that is uniquely southern. Click here to visit the new DeltaMade Web site.