An online guide to finding diamonds in the rough--or more appropriately potters, woodworkers and other assorted artisans and craftsmen in the rough--has been adding to the economy of Kentucky's Appalachian region and paying dividends for those who can create but aren't as accomplished at marketing wares.

"You always hear pople say, 'Oh, I'd just like to get off the interstate and travel the backroads, but I don't know what's out there and I don't want to get lost," said Chris Cathers, programs manager for Kentucky Artisan Heritage Trail (KAHT), which was developed in 2000 by Eastern Kentucky University's Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology to connect the many artisans scattered throughout the commonwealth's Appalachian region with would-be-tourists on the Web.

"We've gone out and created driving loops that are set up just for these reason. You can come out off the interstate (and) drive on one of these routes. It may take you two or three hours just to drive one of these loops, but you may want to stop here and there along the way. You're not going to get lost; we're going to show you how to get back with the maps," Cathers said.

"(The program aims to) blend the arts and technology and help train small business owners to bring in Web technology, GIS software, and really promote the region through cultural heritage tourism," he said.

For people with businesses along the 17 trails, a survey provided by Cathers shows 83% of the more than 600 businesses associated with the trails feel the program is helping attract new customers.

"Actually it has definitely enhanced my guest list," said Barbara Napier, who runs the Snug Hollow Farm Bed and Breakfast in Irvine, one of the many bed and breakfasts along the trails. "It's just what we need to do to showcase our passion in arts and everything going on."

"A log of artists and craftsmen are not business people. They're talented and they can do all kinds of beautiful work. However, for them to go out and get business is a whole other world. That's where the trail comes in," Napier said. "That's where we need the help, so many people aren't just really business people."

Napier and her Estill County bed and breakfast have been a part of the trail since its inception in 2000 as a pilot program in Estill, Madison, Jackson and Rockcastle counties.

Between 2001 and 2003, Estill County saw a 21.1% increase in tourism dollars, according to a state study provided by Cathers. He said that KAHT helped pump in an extra $237,000 to the local economy. Overall 17 of the 51 counties involved in the program saw an average growth rate of 8.6% from 2001-2003, according to the study.

It's added revenue Napier said she's been happy to see, and it's not just during the peak months. "It's year-round. Anyone looking for something to do without having to travel too far, they get on that site.. The whole siute is just geared to what is going on around here."

According to Cather's numbers, KAHT.com is the first time more than 60% of participants have had a Web presence, a portal to the people taveling through or to Kentucky as far west as Glasgow and points south, east and northeast of Lexington.

The introductory point to many who stumble onto the trail is the Kentucky Artisan Center just off I-75 at the Berea exit. A recent Sunday saw cars in its parking lot from Maryland, West Virginia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio. The three-year-old center is the starting point for three of the trails, ranging from 22 miles on the Berea Trail to 105 miles along the Gateway Trail.

David Rowlette, executive director of the Berea Chamber of Commerce, said the center, which showcases art from all over the state, puts a spark in visitors' minds about the area.

"If you stop out there, you might take a few minutes to look around, you probably don't have two hours to run into town at that moment. But I think the real benefit for (the area is) people who make their way north and south... When they stop out there and see what our community has to offer, they are more likely to budget a couple hours the next time they come through, or an overnight stay," he said.

Sarah Culbreth, who runs Tater Knob Pottery and Farm nine miles outside of Berea, agrees.

"It's begin to happen," she said. "People that stopped there three years ago are now coming back and spending weekends with us, or four-day weekends in the Berea area, and subsequently finding us even if they hadn't found us in their first initial visit to Berea at the Artisan Center."

There has been some concern among members of the Berea business community that the center, just years from the freeway's exit, is pulling people away from Berea's College Square, home to artisans and assorted craft shops.

"Some of our retail shops have found that they are competing with the Artisan Center, but I think our community, at least our chamber, views it as a mahor asset for the city of Berea and the state of Kentucky," Rowlette said. "They are encouraging folks to come in and explore and spend some time (down the road)."

He said the Artisan Center, couple with the KAHT, has helped tourists and even people within the community find artisans in the outlying areas.

"It's hgard for some of us who live here to find some of the artists when they live out in Red Lick in Jackson County and the surrounding communities, so I woudl assume with the Web-based program and all, it would make it easier to find them," he said.

However, Culbreth said she hasn't seen an impact in her business from the trail itself.

"We were already very much a point of destination when the trails were established, so people already knew they were going to come to us," she said.

"He haven't had the majoprity of the people walking in from the Kentucky Arisan Heritage Trail that have impacted our business as significantly as other regions... which I was hoping for--whith I'm still hoping for."

Culbreth said she feels the problem is in the solely Web-based approach to the trail. "I would like to see that 30% increase that the people saw down in the mountains of North Carolina... where they put a point of destination map togetrher and literature together and published that where people had it in their hands and drove around with it."

While a hard copy of what's on the Web could help, Napier said she knows from experience working with her chamber, something that extensive just isn't logistically practical. "Unfortunately (these small businesses) come and go so fast, that it's already out-of-date before you get it printed," she said.

While Culbreth may not yet be seeing much of an impact from the trails, others have been taking.

"If National Geographic accepts us, we must be doing something right," Cathers said. "I feel like we're doing something right in this state, and on the national level, we're being recognized for those things."