An Oak Park-based barter brokerage reports that the economy's cash crunch and excess inventories boosted its business last year.  The Trade Exchange of America recorded a 25 percent increase in revenue and trade volume in 2001. Trade Exchange President Frederic Detwiler said revenue at the privately held business jumped from $25.6 million in 2000 to $32 million last year.   In a typical year, he said, revenue and trade volume grow 5 percent to 10 percent.  But as has happened in each recession since the exchange's founding in 1978, business is booming.

John Sobolewski, executive director of the National Association of Trade Exchanges, said trade-exchange use typically increases in slow economic periods because businesses are looking for ways to conserve cash and go through inventory and unused capacity.

``When businesses are conserving cash resources, the questions become: `Do we buy a new piece of equipment? Do we put that new roof on our building? Do we advertise?' '' Detwiler said.   By offering airplane seats that would go unused, sporting-event tickets or car-wash coupons, businesses that trade at the Trade Exchange and through other bartering services accrue trade dollars. Then, when they need goods or services, they don't have to find the cash for it, he said.

The exchange members, who pay membership and transaction fees, offer products or services. If what they offer is worth $3,000, then $3,000 goes into the member's trade-dollar account to be used for $3,000 worth of goods from other members. The businesses don't have to do direct trades.  A business that offers basket-making services could get a new copier, and the copy-machine company might use its barter dollars for ski-lift tickets to Mt. Brighton and hams for its employees.

Bruce Milen, president of Jax Kar Wash, said he's used the Trade Exchange to get coffee, construction material, office supplies and advertising without having to find the cash to do it.  ``I've got the people sitting there, I've got the utilities being used,'' Milen said. ``It's easy for me to trade car washes for other products. I've got a list of a hundred things I've used it for.''

Milen uses the Trade Exchange often and said it makes sense that its use would go up in a down economy. He's been using the exchange since the early 1980s.  The National Association of Trade Exchanges estimated that the barter business surged 23 percent in 2001 compared with 2000, because of the recession.

``People use it because if you have excess capacity, you're not making money off of it,'' said Detwiler of the Trade Exchange.   And although he admits that the recession is probably the largest factor in last year's growth, Detwiler doesn't think that the cash crunch and excess inventory are the only reasons his business is up. He also attributes his success to fallout from the dot-com bust.

Detwiler said at least some of the Trade Exchange's new growth is from its revamped Web site. The exchange launched www.trade first.com in 2001 so customers could look at goods and services online and so it wouldn't have to depend on choosing a dot-com that would survive.