According to Glenn Soloy, the president and chief executive officer of the NWT Development Corporation, many artisans do not currently have any methods of marketing their goods.

"The problem is that so many of the communities are off-road and we have artisans working with their hands and minds to create beautiful products but because of the distance and the cost to get into the marketing conduit, many get missed out," says Soloy.

Now in his third year in his position, Soloy says his program is a productive one.

"We're going to let the world know we're open for business. One of the most positive things is the NWT is blessed with different cultures. From the East to the West, the aboriginal peoples have the most unique talents and they are able to bring out the North through these arts and crafts. So when we're taken to the world markets, people are not just buying a souvenir, but a piece of the North," says Soloy.

He says that inaccessibility to the market has been an issue with arts and crafts people for a number of years and that after discussing it with Stephen Kakfwi, the minister of resources, wildlife and economic development, "we decided to put together a cottage industry project that would allow us to do this...work with our producers and match them with our market."

Soloy says that representatives of the Arctic Canada Trading Company Ltd., the marketing arm of the development corporation, plan to travel to all of the different communities in the Eastern and Western Arctic over the next year, purchasing arts and crafts items.

Soloy says that all products will be inventoried and monitored so that his team can adjust their buying habits to better suit the market and to ensure that the artisans are getting the most for their money.

"If we are paying $100 for the product and we find out that it's selling for a lot more, then we'll be able to pay the people more for the product they're making. It's designed to put income into the hands of the producer," says Soloy.

While the projects for the East and the West will be kept separate, they function the same and each run with a total budget of $99,000.

After the purchases are made, the Arctic Trading Company will proceed to sell and distribute them around the world to their subsidiary companies. All profits will be invested back into the program.

"We do wholesale, corporate and retail south of 60 and we don't retail in the North because we don't want to encroach on the others," says Soloy who adds that they do sell wholesale in the North.

It is anticipated that the cottage industry program might compete with the existing co-ops and stores but some co-op managers are waiting to see how the program pans out.

"If they're simply coming in and buying, it would be fine but if they're looking at carvings, it would cause dissension with the well established agents in the co-ops and the Northwest Companies," says Terry Ryan, the general manager of the Cape Dorset Co-op and Dorset Fine Arts.

"It might be a needless intrusion...but if it benefits a person not currently represented by an agency or agents, then God bless them," says Ryan.

"Anything that will help the people to market their products, I'm all for it," says Jean, the interim manager at the Holman Eskimo Co-op who did not want to give her last name.

"The co-ops are there to service their members and even provide moral support so anything anyone has to offer, we'll welcome them with open arms."