Woman business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs have a new option for occasional office space that includes equipment, conference rooms, marketing and even the chance to seek guidance from a business counselor.

The Alaska Microenterprise Incubation Center aims to provide women who work from a home office a chance to access a private space, away from the kids and the duties at home, by offering shared-use offices.

The AMI Center is funded through a two-year, $40,000 grant from the Ms. Foundation's Collaborative Fund for Women's Economic Development. It is run by the YWCA Anchorage Women's Finance program, which offers workshops, seminars and other training.

“If we have the clients we expect to have, we should be self-sustaining at the end of the grant,” said Laura White-Ritchie, who oversees operations at the YWCA and at the center.

Most Women's Finance clients are women who own small businesses, the majority of whom run their operations out of their homes. Most are single moms who don't have much spare quiet time, often meeting clients at coffee shops.

The center aims to help primarily women, but will work with men as well. It's designed mainly for those who already have a business set up, but are seeking privacy and guidance for how to run things more efficiently, White-Ritchie said.

“The target is somebody who is already working their business out of the home or in coffee shops, and that's a struggle for them and they know that,” she said. “We wanted to create a space where they could meet their clients in a quiet place. They will have Internet access, an office and access to conference rooms so they can do the things they need to do to make their business a success.”

Business owners don't have to rent the offices to make use of the program. These clients can have their business mail sent to the center — which has a downtown Anchorage address — and have it forwarded to their home offices.

They can also access various office equipment, conference rooms and graphic design help, among other services.

The center hopes to provide services to more than 250 clients in the next year, and is set up to handle 20 shared-office tenants, providing access to office at least two days a month. If more clients come in, the YWCA has room to expand.

A few organizations in Anchorage offer shared-use offices, but the AMI Center will provide the added bonus of providing access to counselors and will offer classes on how to be a better business owner.

Two counselors will be on staff throughout the day and into the evening. Counselors can help clients figure out what they want to do and how to get it done. Counselors can help research the market, write business plans and help prepare business owners seek financing.

“We do a lot of reality checking with our clients,” White-Ritchie said. “All of them have big ideas, but some have no concept for what it takes. A lot of our clients are on public assistance and think that they are going to be able to get a loan. Some think they will get a grant to start a business, but that's about as common as getting struck by lightening; it happens, but it's not common.”

The center's counselors will help write grants, but White-Ritchie noted that people generally can't get grants to do something unless they're already established in doing that particular thing.

Soon, the center will help office tenants develop cooperative advertising that features a group of tenants, thus spreading the costs.

Monthly education sessions will focus on closing the books for the month, tax preparation and keeping track of the money, as well as other ways to keep organized.

White-Ritchie also plans to set up a system allowing clients to create e-mail broadcasts, essentially allowing clients to send professional looking, yet informative e-mail messages and newsletters.

The YWCA's annual budget is from $260,000 to $280,000 a year and is almost completely dependent on grant funding.

To help the diversify, White-Ritchie is planning to launch a campaign asking professional women and women business owners to donate at least $100 a year to the organization.

“If we get $100 from even one-tenth of the women out there, we could replace the grant money we have right now,” she said.

The goal is to raise $100,000 a year through the “Lift as We Rise” campaign.

On the Web: www.ywcaak.org