You've Got E-mail!(Internet cafe and coffee shop) (Brief Article)

• Author: JONES, PATRICIA

This Tok cyber hub attracts tourists and locals.

Entrepreneurial inspirations car come from a variety of sources, according to Maggie Brooks, owner of the Alaska Cyber Hub located on the main street in Tok.

Her idea to start an Internet cafe and coffee shop in this tiny Eastern Interior town came during a summer job working as a waitress at a restaurant in Tok a gateway town that sees nearly all of the 100,000-plus tourists driving to Alaska each summer.

"People continuously asked me where they could go to check their e-mails, and I really didn't know," Brooks said. "I figured it was a niche."

The idea formulated into a successful business plan. Brooks, who was born and raised in West Germany and moved to Alaska in 1991, leased a quaint log shop located in the heart of Tok about 18 months ago.

The unusual gable-style roof and large parking lot with easy access off the Alaska Highway were definite assets for starting the business, which now includes a loyal local clientele in addition to tourists passing through town.

Hand-cut wood lettering painted bright yellow proclaims the shop's name. "The building itself attracts people," Brooks said.

Starting with her own personal computer, fax, scanner and printer, Brooks scraped together some money to buy a second terminal, some patio chairs and tables for the cafe and a Bunn coffee maker.

With two local telephone lines for Internet access, Brooks opened her cyber cafe shop in the beginning of winter, not an ideal time for a tourism-dependant business.

"It was pretty scary to open in the beginning of winter, not knowing if I would make it," she said. "Some people told me I wouldn't make it; some said that if I'd make it through the winter I had it made."

These days, it's not just coffee and computers at the Alaska Cyber Hub. In addition to espresso and other specialty coffee and tea drinks, Brooks makes deli-style sandwiches, popular with local construction workers, she said. She also sells celebratory...