Eldernet: Fairbanks program teaches senior citizens entrepreneurial skills.

• Author: Martin, Ingrid
• Position: Fairbanks, Alaska

A corps of retirement-age Fairbanks residents interested in supplementary income for their golden years has found an opportunity to realize that goal. The answer was entrepreneurial training and guidance this past summer, through a pilot program dubbed Eldernet.

It's a program that is not only paying off for its participants, but is drawing interest from job training agencies both in Alaska and Outside.

Taking the Plunge

Octogenarian Gladys Merrell is finally in business for herself. Armed with a business license, merchant's credit card account and the little girls' dresses she sews at home, Merrell this summer began selling her wares out of a little store on Second Avenue in downtown Fairbanks. She likes to sew anyway, she says, and with four great-granddaughters, ages 4, 5, 6 and 7, she puts in a lot of time at the sewing machine.

Although she plans to keep her paid, part-time position at the Senior Center, going the entrepreneur route can't hurt, according to Merrell. "I thought, 'Why not make some extra money?'" This past May, a week short of her 82nd birthday, she began cashing in.

At the same time, Lois Tapp, 71, re-entered the retail marketplace. Longtime residents recognize Tapp as the woman who owned the Mukluk Shop downtown for many years. Now, she is marketing her patterns for men's, women's and children's mukluks, parkas and kuspuks. Although the "By Lois" line has been for sale for several years, the ultimate goal now is to sell enough of them, herself, to be self-sufficient.

Merrell, Tapp and three dozen other colleagues -- all 55 and older -- are the first graduates of a nine-week course designed to teach retirees how to establish and run their own businesses. They range from former business owners, who knew the basics but needed to brush up on current rules and regulations, to craftspeople who are testing the retail waters with their handiwork. After years of being told their creations are worth money, they are putting that advice to the test.

Eldernet is a training, networking and cooperative marketing program. The nine-week course takes participants from writing a business plan to opening up shop. It includes lessons on such areas as recordkeeping for tax purposes and marketing and sales tips. Participants also receive business consultation services as part of the curriculum.

"It's a full, three-credit course that is an actual requirement for an associate's degree in business," according to Charlie Dexter, an associate...