Leather shoemaker society empowering was one of the important aspect which was a part of development in Asahan Regency needs to develop to maintain development increasing and also promote the Asahan Regency trademark. The purpose of this research were to understand how the shoemaker society empowering, supporting and inhibiting factors in shoemaker society empowering and the effort of the Cooperation Industrial and Trade Department of Asahan Regency in shoemaker society empowering on Asahan Regency. Methods used in this study was a qualitative methodology. As for data collection techniques used in this research was observation, in-depth interviews, the study literature available and documentation. Technic data analysis used in this research was started from data reduction step, data rendering stage, the stage of conclusion (verification), and triangulation. The result of the study based on the theory of Totok Mardikanto, which according to Mardikanto in his empowerment theory, the empowering held based on human build, company build, environment build, and the community build. However, the shoemaker society empowerment by the Cooperation Industrial and Trade Department of Asahan Regency is well-conformed though still finding the obstacles on the empowerment. But the Cooperation Industrial and Trade Department of aAsahan Regency still in effort of handling the obstacles of the shoemaker society’s obstacles.
Keywords: society empowering; leather; shoemaker