Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI (1888PressRelease)
March 23, 2009 - Two African American figures are making history, but from opposite ends of the spectrum. At one end, President Obama heads to Washington to sign an historic multi-billion dollar bail-out bill in an attempt to quell the rising unrest from investors and home owners. At the other, and much closer to home, local entrepreneur Tram Holloway, owner of Merchants Barter Exchange, St. Paul, is taking the Twin Cities by storm, introducing the MBE-barter system to stimulate the economy from Main Street up.
Amidst monster lay-offs, embarrassing corporate losses, record bankruptcies, and unpredictable stock markets, the 'first' economy (barter) is making an enormous comeback. Tram Holloway began running his own, local MBE-barter company late last year, and hasn't taken hit foot off the gas yet. "Barter is exploding!" beams Holloway. "I sort of see myself as the 'Barter-Obama' these days, because all the while our government just talks about helping people, we're actually out there every day making a difference." Feisty words you might think, however barter is making a huge comeback since the current economy continues to nose-dive with no bottom in sight.
Mr Holloway had the good foresight to get out of the automotive business while the going was still good and direct his talents and skills to building his own, local division of Merchants Barter Exchange in the Twin Cities area. "Barter was a no-brainer to me," states Tram. "If you've got no money, no access to credit, why wouldn't you barter?"
Even as most other local companies continue to downsize and lay off good workers, Merchants Barter Exchange continues to grow in leaps and bounds. The company tripled in size in 2008 and looks set to break that company record this year.
The MBE-barter system adapted and improved on the antiquated bartering companies of the last century and did away with the old problems of price-gouging (charging a high price for trade), cash-barter blends (where part of the transaction was in cash), and under-the-table deals, which still plague almost all of the other barter companies today. MBE insists on "100% trade, 100% of the time" same price as cash, which allows them to do much larger transactions and help many more companies barter for hard goods too.
"2009 will not only go down in history as the year of Obama," Tram says, "it will also be known as the year of MBE-barter-nomics." The MBE-barter system can benefit businesses of all sizes because of its easy of use and brokerage control systems, which make trading as close to using cash as possible. Although it is no miracle solution, and certainly can’t make all our economic woes disappear, it can certainly bring hope to many struggling business owners and ease the cash flow crisis hitting Main Street.
Merchants Barter Exchange, MN, looks set to close out 2009 with over 1,000 active members in the local exchange, if they keep up the pace started this year. Tram Holloway is actively recruiting experienced sales professionals in the area and can be reached at: 952-334-1226.
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