Spice Blending

My travels and writings put me in contact with an incredible number of people who are starting businesses and recreating their small towns. I get emails from someone virtually every day and wish that I had a way to easily post more of their stories. Here is an email and picture that I received last year from Kim Pontius.

Jack,
I just got done reading your latest blog and something occurred to me. In addition to my duties at the college my wife and I have owned a spice blending business www.suttonsbaytrading.com for the last five years in Fort Wayne. Recently we moved our home and now our business (see picture attached) to a small rural community on the outskirts of Fort Wayne called Huntertown. Our original plan was to move it to Suttons Bay, Michigan just outside of Traverse City but alas, this may take awhile. What struck me though was that after being around folks such as yourself we began to see the real value of locating in small communities. Because of my involvement in the SATS program one of the criteria was access to small regional airports (there are 2 within 10 miles) as I see this as a benefit in the coming decade. People find it hard to believe that a firm that buys and sells products all over the world can reside in a small town. With the Internet anything is possible. This immediately made us somewhat of a celebrity in this small community which we now take a great deal of pride in being a part of. Thanks for your efforts out there in the Hinterlands.
Kim Pontius