Local addresses U.S. Senate

Alpaca Direct co-founder James Hobart testified in the U.S. Senate on Thursday in Washington D.C., speaking on the challenges and opportunities of small businesses in rural America.

Hobart shared his experience as a small business owner in North Idaho, and how he and his wife transformed their daughter’s 4-H project with pet alpacas into a thriving ‘Click and Mortar’ business, offering more than 3,000 products and serving more than 100,000 customers in 30 countries.

He also shared how his company has used the Internet and social media sites like Facebook, Pinterest and Google Plus to put together a modern business that relies on web search advertising and social networks to find customers interested in its products and start conversations with them to better understand their needs.

“There are many places all over the world that don’t have a local yarn shop,” Alpaca Direct co-founder Kelley Hobart said. “We want to become their local yarn shop, even though we’re based in North Idaho. With online social tools, we can do that. And they have become part of our community.”

Today’s advertising platforms like Google AdWords and Facebook allow Alpaca Direct to be very specific in utilizing advertising dollars and measuring the return on investment on their marketing efforts.

Jim Hobart also listed challenges facing small business such as his when it comes to Internet access.

“The on-ramps to the digital highway need more access for rural areas,” Hobart said. “My competitors in larger cities are operating on the equivalent of a 12-lane freeway, while my company’s access to that freeway is like a worn-out toll road, with potholes, maintained by a single-source provider with little incentive to make improvements. It limits my ability to live-stream store events with customers and limits their engagement with Alpaca Direct.”

Hobart also shared a vision of customers being able to see what is going on with the store through a computer.

“Hopefully soon remote customers will be able to virtually walk through their store and shop as if they were actually in the store,” Hobart said. “Experiences like this can become a differentiator in my ability to deliver a competitive service.”

Hobart then turned to healthcare, mentioning issues around high costs and limited access, along with the hope congress will pass legislation that is more accessible to small business.

“Many entrepreneurs have realized the world is flat and they can run their businesses from where they want to live, not where they must live,” Hobart said. “In our case, we discovered Coeur d’Alene on vacation in 2005 and left Silicon Valley for a simpler life and more efficient place to run this business. The Innovation Hub established in downtown Coeur d’Alene and local leaders are making our town a magnet for innovators in technology, artificial intelligence and robotics.”

After his testimony, senators explored feedback on possible new legislation that would collect sales tax on Internet sales in all 50 states and the impact on small businesses.

Alpaca Direct is a fast-growing ‘Click and Mortar’ retailer launched in Silicon Valley and now located in Hayden. The website is updated to provide a world class user experience and offers a wide range of Alpaca apparel, yarn and gifts.