Wednesday, July 29, 2009
CWCW goes to Brushton
Armed with microphones, cameras, and our newly printed business cards, the CWCW team ventured to Brushton, NY.
Brushton is the poorest town in terms of household income in Franklin County: To give you an idea, the median household income in Brushton $23, 326, whereas in Malone the median household income is $31, 031. Only about five hundred people live in Brushton, and it’s populated by an older group of people, the median age being forty years. The unemployment rate in 2008 was 4.8%, and the residents living below poverty level is 14.6%.
With these figures in mind, I wasn’t too hopeful about what we would find in Brushton. Besides a Stewarts (which was pretty hoppin’ when we stopped for lunch), there didn’t seem to be much there. However, despite the gloomy statistics, Brushton was not, as I’d expected, entirely dead to business. Don Barney, the eighty-year-old mayor said, "At one time we counted around the village here, now I don’t remember the exact amount, but it was twenty-some small businesses that were mom and pop businesses in the village."
Unfortunately, in the last six months, many of those mom-and-pop businesses have closed. A Fort Covington man named Guy Soucia had converted the closed high school into a "mini-mall" with several small businesses. Unfortunately, we arrived to find the mall shut down, the businesses moved and the building empty and locked. Mayor Barney told us the building is in the process of being sold, and Soucia already has a hopeful buyer. He closed the building in hopes of opening something geared more towards young kids.
We left our business cards at various places around the town: at the bank, a local wood shop, and Stewarts. We then gave our cards to the newest entrepreneur in Brushton, Shawn Taylor, who opened his new tattoo shop "Taylored Tattoos" just three days ago. When we told Shawn we’d be discussing entrepreneurial spirit in hard times with our project, he agreed that opening a business in today’s economy is not an easy feat. I asked him, if opening a business is so tough these days, why did Shawn decide to do this (in Brushton, of all places)?
Shawn had a lot of tattoos of his own, and sat on the stoop of his building, in front of dozens of tattoo drawings taped to the windows. He was friendly and easy to talk to, really open to our questions and hearing about the project.
He seems to represent a type of business he feels is declining in the North Country, one where the focus is on caring for customers rather than simply making a dollar. Shawn told us it’s got to be about getting the job done well- not just about getting it done. "People don’t wanna see change," he said. "I know a lot of people who drive by here and they see a tattoo shop- people already in their mind have made up 'Well that is gonna be a lot of bad people around,' or things of that nature and its just not like that." What gives him the will to try to defy this stereotype he feels exists, that tattoos bring the wrong crowd? "I’ve bucked the system my whole life," he said. "Why not bring something in here and do the same thing- but do it for the good. Reverse the role."
Perhaps he won’t have too difficult a time defying the stereotype he feels exists about tattoos, as it seems everyone is getting them these days. Shawn told us older people are getting them as well as young, "teachers, probation officers, cops, it doesn’t matter." And he may be right- CWCW elder Ruth Garner recently got a tattoo of her own, a shamrock on her shoulder for the Zootoo fundraiser in Potsdam.
I left our talk with Shawn feeling pretty optimistic about Brushton, this little town I’d driven through so many times but never really given much credit. Sure, times are hard and businesses seem impossibly difficult to start. But having a will like Shawn's changes the game. You’ve just got to have be in it for the right reasons, serving other people to help them, rather than simply worrying about gaining a profit.
Labels: Brenna, Brushton, Business, Depression, Entrepreneurship, geofeed
The Positive Mind Leading Brushton
photo taken by Kolby WeaverDon pauses, considering what he's about to say. "I usually don't tell people this," Don says, "but I don't have a high school education." In a household of five children, Don explains, "If there was work to be done at home, you stayed home and you done it… Most of the time we made our own money. We might have gone out to nearby farms and we'd pick corn and pitch hay and we'd do anything to make a dollar." He grew up with a notion of hard work and independence as his family "raised everything on the farm."
Don's self-reliance has taken the place of education and I begin to understand how, in combination with education, that character trait can lead to great economic prospects. "I don't think in life I really could've done any better if I had a high school education or college. But I had the experience and the good reputation to be able to get one of the best jobs."
It was inspiring to learn that Don served on various school and town community boards despite his lack of formal education. He reminds us that education "opens doors but doesn't solve all the problems." Many youth today are choosing education as a safe-haven from the reality of living independent, but having a college degree doesn't automatically ensure success. Don Barney's emphasis on education in combination with will power is powerful advice for young people today. The current economy of may appear bleak but Don says with a grin, " I think you gotta have that positive attitude, that’s all. Yeah, and a little bit of luck of course."
Labels: Brushton, Business, Entrepreneurship, geofeed, Jennifer, positive
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