Jerry Bottenfield figures that spending a few minutes to fill out a form could pay off handsomely for his Lawrence-based soapmaking operation.

“The more obscure your product, the more important it is to get your name out there,” said Bottenfield, who signed up to be included in a new database being compiled by the Kansas Department of Commerce. “This seems to be a good first step, seeing as how hundreds of millions of people are looking for things on the Internet.”

Department officials are counting on more Kansas artisans, food makers and craftsmen to follow Bottenfield’s lead.

The department is compiling a statistical database of such operators and their products, hoping to boost their profile.

“We’re looking for ways to connect travelers as well as people living in the state with people who provide services they’re looking for or are interested in, whether it be art, crafts or food,” said Caleb Asher, a department spokesman.

The database should be up and running after July 1, he said.

Last month, the department sent 5,000 questionnaires to prospective participants. Nearly 700 have been returned so far.

Though the questionnaires included an April 30 deadline, Asher said, participants still are being encouraged to submit their forms.

“We’re still in the nut-and-bolts stage of putting this together,” Asher said.

Bottenfield, former director of Downtown Lawrence Inc., answered the call, knowing that he has a viable product. He recently closed his Soap Momma store on Massachusetts Street in downtown Lawrence, but still makes his specialty products – vegetable oil-based, custom-made soaps – available for sale on a wholesale basis.

Lawrence artist Diana Dunkley is adding her name to a Kansas Department of Commerce database aimed at letting out of state consumers know about arts, crafts and food products available in the state. Dunkley is pictured in her studio alongside Balianne

“If you check the label of the soap you bought at the supermarket, you’ll see that it contains tallowate, which means rendered animal fat,” Bottenfield said. “My soaps are gentler on your skin. They’re the mildest, most moisturizing that we know how to make.”

Diana Dunkley sent in her form, too.

“Anytime you can get your name out there, it’s beneficial,” said Dunkley, an abstract watercolorist whose works are available through Fields Gallery, 712 Mass. “In Kansas, we have … little gallery representation. The galleries we have are really good. There just aren’t enough of them. They tend to be few and far between.”

Dunkley and Asher agreed that the database should benefit Lawrence more than many other Kansas cities.

“Lawrence has one of the highest, if not the highest, arts concentrations in the state,” Asher said. “And the database will certainly point that out, but there are other communities developing as well – Atchison and Salina, for example.”

Dunkley, who is active in the Lawrence art community, figures there are at least 1,000 visual artists in town.

“That’s what the statistics say – 1 percent,” she said.

Dunkley said she welcomed the department’s efforts to get the word out about Kansas artisans.

“It isn’t easy,” she said of marketing arts and crafts.

For more information on the database, contact Katie Bartkoski, (785) 296-3810 or kbartkoski@kansascommerce.com.