Our cover story featured the unusual success of two young entrepreneurs, 28-year-old Ray Bastarache and 31-year-old Tim Walsh of Barter Network Inc. (BNI), located in Milford (CT).

Bastarache, at age 24 and armed with $3,000 in borrowed money, was the youngest trade exchange owner in the country when he formed BNI. Putting in grueling hours, he was able to rise above his meager beginnings. His odyssey is an inspiration to every under-capitalized entrepreneur.

His sidekick, Tim Walsh, operated another part of the company which focused on corporate barter—PEAR (Promoting Exchange for Asset Recovery). The 16-page story shows what youthful energy and persistence can accomplish.

Hotelier and art collector Arnold Ashkenazy amassed a 20,000 piece collection, valued at $20 million, through the astute use of barter. We reveal how he obtained thousands of paintings and sculptures from artists by bartering his luxury accommodations.

Two other unique stories are included in this issue: Robert Aus, a corporate barter specialist from ICON, shows three ways banks can barter to save troubled loans and Robert Coulson, president of the American Arbitration Association, authored, “Can Disputes Over Barter Transactions Be Resolved Privately?”

In our Countertrade Section we had several excellent pieces as well. Kenton Elderkin, countertrade manager from Polaroid, wrote Part II of his article, “Purchasing’s Role In Countertrade.”

And publisher Bob Meyer attended the first-ever worldwide countertrade meeting, which convened in Washington (DC), to provide a report on the events. We looked at the legislation proposed in the U.S. Congress to expand our government’s role in offsets, and the difficulty of working with third world countries. Because making customers out of countries that are essentially broke takes some creativity, the title of the story, “How To Sell To Cashless Buyers,” is most apropos.

This issue and all back issues of BarterNews are now in digital format:
DIGITAL

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to do such barter deals?
FASTSTART

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