Thankyou very much for your responses and I thank WebProWorld for taking an interest in their members' point of view. It's refreshing and I'm honored.

The reason I wrote the post is because of two reasons. First, just like publicgadfly said, "At the moment the Internet is struggling to "become"", so, before we get lost in the evergrowing Internet confusion, shouldn't we stop and think of where it's going and how are we going to get there? The desisions each of us are making now is what's forming our destination. To me, a good decision is one that not only will benifit me but also benefit my industry.

Second, for two years this concept has been churning in my head and before I explode (not literally) I have to open up and welcome feedback.

To Jodi Apple, "You go girl". What you are trying to do is precisely what I had in mind. Representing all the retail businesses in your market is key. If you offer them technical and management tips, classifieds, forums and links to their suppliers, that will keep them coming back every day. The suppliers will, in turn, want to take full advantage of the "target market" opening you will supply.
Email me if you wish to talk further.

SecureCart said "I think your network is like an interactive phone book". You don't know how right you are. Everyone can use a phone book, it's regional and everone's in it. So, everyone will use it. Some will spend more for ad space than others and it's free to use. The difference here is that the members update their own information.

It's the retail businesses and their suppliers who would benifit the most with what the internet can offer. But, it has to be structured so they can use it.
But, that's only my opinion.