In two weeks, some 70 business around the nation will receive a piece of mail from the north country.

The packages will contain large cubes that unfold to reveal pictures of soldiers, economic information and the motto "You see a soldier. We see a work force."

Created by Drum Country Business, a consortium of local economic development agencies, the mailers are an attempt to bring industries identified in the "North Country Business and Resources Gap Analysis" into Northern New York.

The study, released in 2007, was commissioned by the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization to identify areas in which Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties could capitalize on the proximity of Fort Drum.

The study suggested that local leaders reach out to 13 main industry sectors, including medical and dental services, construction, electronics production, insurance companies and office furniture manufacturers.

In March, the Small Business Development Center sponsored workshops at Jefferson Community College to help local contractors find work on Fort Drum and connect with other government jobs.

As a parallel effort, the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce hired procurement specialist Ashli F. Hayes to work with contractors.

The Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization agreed to tackle the medical and dental services aspect of the gap analysis study, said Michelle L. Capone, who has worked with Drum Country Business as the senior project development specialist with the Development Authority of the North Country.

Ms. Capone said the Drum Country Business group was formed 10 months ago to deal with the electronics production, insurance and office furniture sectors.

The Drum Country Business group consists of Warren S. Rosenthal, Lewis County's economic development and planning director; Mary Anne Hanley, director of marketing for the Jefferson County Job Development Corp.; John R. Manson of the St. Lawrence Economic Development office; Kevin J. Jordan, director of project development for the Development Authority of the North Country, and Carl A. McLaughlin, executive director of FDRLO.

The group decided to focus first on so-called "back-office" operations such as health and medical insurance carriers, direct life insurance carriers, insurance agencies and brokerages, Ms. Capone said.

A year ago, JCJDC took on the task of identifying back-office businesses across the nation that the group might be able to attract to the north country. Ms. Capone said 68 such businesses were identified, such as the health-care companies GHI and AETNA.

"We're targeting businesses that typically, in the past, have located around military installations," Ms. Capone said, adding that the companies often see such installations as centers of an educated, skilled and available work force.

Mr. Rosenthal said the list of companies was kept short so the group could use a more costly marketing approach.

"The competition is very stiff when it comes to marketing communities. It's hard to get these people's attention," he said. "We decided to try something more novel, something unique."

Ms. Capone agreed, noting that the cubes are designed to spark interest in the region's capabilities.

Last week, Drum Country Business added a page to the FDRLO Web site in preparation for the new marketing effort.

Ms. Capone said the group will start by sending out the cubes, created by AdWorkshop of Lake Placid, and follow-up letters and phone calls offering more information about the area to interested companies.

To fund the effort, DANC and the three counties contributed $5,000 each for a total of $20,000. The four agencies also made soft commitments to contribute another $10,000 each in the next two years, to give the effort a total of $60,000 in funding.

Ms. Capone and Mr. Rosenthal both said the effort would be deemed successful if a handful of companies responded to the campaign.

"If we get one business to the Drum Country region, that's a success," Ms. Capone said.