Michigan companies featured on MSNBC
ERIN MCCLARY C & G Staff Writer

OAK PARK - A local company caught the attention of national television giant MSNBC for its Sunday morning show" Your Business" - because contrary to the financially questionable trends of big lenders and credit card powerhouses, this company is designed to help small businesses stay afloat. TradeFirst.com, a 30-year-old Michigan-based bartering company in Oak Park, has increased local proprietor Sam DiNello's business by 20 percent. For the show, DiNello and his business partner Jason Iras were chosen as some of the company's most profitable traders to talk about the benefits Trade First has brought to their Macomb Township company, Naturalistic Landscapes.

"This is good for business owners because it's another way to grow your business when the economy is down," DiNello said. "Due to the economic situation in Michigan and across the United States, this 'bartering' has been a creative way for us to increase revenue." DiNello said he and his partner use "trade points" for everything from buying materials and advertising, to sending flowers and going out to lunch. For example, he explained, by doing a company's landscaping, he might earn points to use on their product in the future. Naturalistic Landscapes is a full service maintenance company based in Macomb Township, but DiNello said he trades with hundreds of other small businesses throughout the Tri-County area.

TradeFirst has more than 5,000 businesses in its network, making it the largest independent bartering organization in the country, said President Frederic Detwiler. He said MSNBC and "Your Business" contacted him earlier this year to help explain "how bartering and trading is helping small businesses in the current economic climate."

The theory behind the company is to not only help small businesses grow, but also to help them during idling times, Detwilder added. Although some of TradeFirst's biggest clients are scattered throughout the Tri-County area, many are as far as Northern Michigan, Ohio and Florida. While the "Wall Street meltdown" is consuming headlines as of late, Detwiler explained, struggling small businesses are being ignored. "The main street businesses really make up the backbone of all the areas alone," especially in metro Detroit, he said. "Now more than ever, we are helping these companies not only grow but tread water."

Detwiler said the idea is to help small businesses conserve their cash by using trade dollars, which can also relieve companies of paying interest on loans and credit cards. He said his clients will trade with others in the network for services and employee incentives; medical and pharmacy costs; hotels and car rentals; and even luxuries, like deep-sea fishing.

And "Your Business" loved the idea. The episode featuring Trade First and Naturalistic Landscapes airs at 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 12 on MSNBC.

"This is generating dollars (small businesses) never had before, while also bringing in cash referrals," Detwiler added. "We're helping with what could be a crisis."