Bartering becomes a modern day career, says director of Nat. Assn. of Trade Exchanges

They traded cows, skins, horses, tobacco, sugar, corn and probably jugs of whiskey in exchange for whatever goods they needed. From the Native Americans to the early settlers, bartering was the staple of the American economy before the invention of paper money in the 18th century.

Although the dollar is the standard form of trade in today's world, bartering remains as a way for companies to save money and hold onto cash reserves. The big difference between then and now is that bartering exchanges have cropped up as viable business opportunities for financially savvy entrepreneurs who assemble a network of businesses interested in trading goods. Brokering trades for companies has become a lucrative career for many, like Tom McDowell, executive director of the National Association of Trade Exchanges and owner of a Cleveland, Ohio-based company, ATX, The Barter Company.

McDowell said there are about 500 bartering exchange companies in the United States and Canada; however, he said that about 200 of those companies are brokers working for large corporations. Sixty- five percent of large companies have barter divisions, he said.