Along the lieutenant governor’s ‘Main Street Walking Tour’ through Woonsocket, local business owners point out what sets them apart from the big guys

By JOSEPH B. NADEAU

WOONSOCKET — With the way things are in the state and national economy, you might ask why anyone would want operate their own business these days.

People are spending less than they had even a year ago and there is more pressure than ever to find the best deal on goods and services possible.
But on Thursday, Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts found the local economic forecast is better than all clouds and rain when she visited a group of city businesses looking to help themselves with a bit of self promotion.
The stops were part of Roberts’ own efforts to build public support for small business under the statewide “Buy Local RI” campaign launched last year.
The lieutenant governor has already participated in “Main Street” walking tours in 12 other cities and towns around the state. She targeted small businesses on Cumberland Hill Road and North Main Street for her Woonsocket visit.
Most of the businesses on the tour are among the 150 members of the Blackstone Valley Independent Business Alliance headed by William Yasick of Superior Marble & Granite at 840 Cumberland Hill Road. The Alliance group hopes to counter the economic challenges its members are facing by working together and promoting contributions the businesses make to the local economy.
While stopping by Superior Marble & Granite, Roberts thanked Yasick for helping her find local businesses to join the “Buy Local RI” campaign.
The campaign is not a government program, she explained, but more of a grassroots volunteer effort aimed at making Rhode Island residents aware of the local business they can choose to frequent.
“What we’ve got going on is a whole lot of volunteering like you have going on here,” she said. The Buy Local RI volunteers are currently putting together a Web site that will offer a listing of Rhode Island businesses and the services or goods they provide, Roberts said.
That will help the state’s residents find ways to spend their money in places that will keep money in the local economy.
The Blackstone Valley Business Alliance has already put up a website detailing its activities that is helping the group get the word out on thinking local, according to Yasick.
“What we are trying to do is “brand” ourselves as a group and get people to discover the advantages of buying from local businesses,” he said.
In simplest terms, the concept is one of “neighbors supporting neighbors,” he said.
While many of the businesses involved in the alliance have been a part of the community for decades, Yasick said some have been facing increased competitive pressure from the large corporate businesses moving into the area in recent years.
From his own experience, providing a unique service such as cutting, finishing, and installing granite counter tops, as his company does, can mean all the difference in staying ahead of competitors.

For other businesses like Pepin Lumber at 830 Cumberland Hill Road or Vose True Value Hardware, competing with the big box retailers in the area requires a strong focus on customer service and customer satisfaction.
Small businesses can be very competitive on the pricing of some products and less competitive on others due to buying power differences for those items, according to Yasick. What some consumers may not realize, he said, is that the materials required in total for a major construction or renovation project could actually be of equal cost whether purchased through the large business or the small one.
And the money that is given to the small business is more likely to be spent in the community than money given to a nationally- or internationally-operated business.
That can be the result of the local business hiring local people to work in the company, by paying local taxes on the business, or through the purchases of goods and services it makes with other local businesses.
“I value my employees and I treat them like I would want to be treated,” Yasick said of his own contributions to the local economy.
Yasick employs 12 to 13 people at his business and while the downturn in the economy has caused him to cut back hours from a year ago, his employees are still working more than 40 hours a week due to the continuing demand for countertop installations.
Roberts said that could also be the result of people looking for quality purchases when they do spend in this economy.
“People are being more thoughtful and when they have a few dollars to spend they are thinking about value,” she said.

At Pepin Lumber, Roberts met members of Camille Pepin’s family who continue to operate the lumber yard he founded on Cumberland Hill Road 63 years ago in 1947.
For the Pepins, health care costs are a key concern since they pay taxes on the coverage they purchase as business owners. The family members told Roberts anything the state could do to help in that area would be well appreciated.
The business is already coping with a double blow of bad weather and a bad economy slowing the local building business.
Elise (Pepin) Houle said the Alliance’s efforts to change public thinking on buying local could help.
“The general public has to realize that buying local is helping your local economy,” she said.
Like Yasick, the Pepins help the area’s economy by hiring local people to work at their business and also by paying local taxes, the family members said
On average, one third of Pepin’s customers are commercial businesses or municipalities, another third “do-it-yourself” homeowners, and the rest contractors.
With 150 businesses signed up with the business alliance, Houle said the members may be able to help each other out as the downturn in the economy continues.
Roberts said the state is already at work on lowering the cost of health care just as the federal government is doing.
“We have to first look at how we can control costs in a responsible way,” she said. The state’s small size could help Rhode Island to become a leader in the area of health care reform, she said.
“It is a significant challenge, but one we have to talk about,” she said.
The lieutenant governor also stopped in at Walt’s Clothing at 837 Cumberland Hill Road, which offers a line of durable work clothing and work boots to local customers, and Vose True Value Hardware at 849 Cumberland Hill Road, another longtime business in the city operated by Walter Chomka’s family.
Chet Chomka, the business manager, said he is already seeing some benefit from the business alliance group as a result of the attention it has gained its members.
“I think it’s great to try to re-educate people about small business and I think it is starting to work at a slow pace,” he said.
Like Pepin Lumber, Vose has been affected by the early season bad weather and the Chomkas are looking for warmer, drier weather so that people can begin their home summer projects.
“Things have been off because of that but it may have been worse if we didn’t have this going (the alliance),” he said.

On North Main Street, Roberts spent time talking with Jamie Sullivan, the owner of Shaw’s Meat Market at 143 North Main St. since 1975.
A self described “nano business” Sullivan said he has found success in the city by offering his patrons quality food products but also affordable ones that take into account the economic pressures on local families.
He accepts food stamps and also puts together budget family pack purchases for someone looking to buy a week’s worth of assorted meat goods or more.
Shaw’s also still caters to its longtime customers who might come in for just a few slices of luncheon meat and cheese.
Sullivan was not yet a member of the Alliance but said he planned to join.
“I think it is a great idea. It’s important to make sure that people know small businesses do exist,” he said.
Shaw’s employs about 11 people and pays them better than minimum wage because its owner expects his staff to learn their job and be good at what they do.
Working the 60-foot long meat case means treating customers as they expected to be treated and Sullivan said his workers can take that experience into any other job they take on.
“We thank our customers for coming in because a sale here makes a difference in our lives,” he said. Sullivan got his own start in business when he opened his store as a second Shaw’s Market in the city at the age of 22. He learned the business from Lester Shaw, who had the run the Shaw’s at Social Street now operated by his son Brian Shaw.
“Somehow I was foolish enough to think I couldn’t fail and that is a good attitude to have in this business,” he said.

Roberts also visited the Asian-American Market at 122 North Main St. and Sam’s Vaccum Sales and Service at 105 North Main.
Samuel A. Smith, Sam’s owner, said he opened his one-man shop after working for the Hoover Vacuum Co. for 21 years. While he loved working for the big company, Smith believes Hoover’s decision to close his store opened the door to new opportunity.
He now services all types of vacuum cleaners and offers bags and other products a customer might not be able to purchase easily elsewhere. Customer service is a mainstay of the business, he said. “If I don’t have something that they need, I will get it for them,” he said.  
He also does house calls.
“I will pick a vacuum up, repair it, and bring it back to them,” he said.

At another business on North Main Street, PT Floors Walls & More, a flyer from the Alliance hung in the window that stated “Keep the Green in the Valley.”
Paul McBurney and Tim Tessier purchased the flooring and decorative goods business long known as Service Sales three years ago, and also rely on customer attention and satisfaction to keep sales coming in.
When Paul or Tim sell a carpet, customers are happy to know that they will be installing it at their home in few days, Marcia McBurney told Roberts.
Like other local businesses, McBurney said PT Floors Walls & More’s owners give back to their community.”
“We raise our kids in Woonsocket, our kids go to the Woonsocket school system and we built our houses in Woonsocket,” she said. “We do a lot of things here because we have a lot invested here,” McBurney said.
As she wound up her tour with a visit to the Cakery on Main Street, yet another family operated local business, Roberts said she was happy to see so many small businesses still finding success here despite the economy.
“I think it takes a committed small business owner to succeed in tough times,” she said. The Cakery was yet another example of that, Roberts said after talking with one of its owners and operators, Sarah Gauvin.
“It was interesting to see how many people were here in the mid-to-late afternoon,” she said of the Cakery. “It is obvious this has become a gathering spot for the community. And when I asked Sarah how business was, she said business is good,” Roberts said.