Company founder creates space for women-owned ventures

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Wendy Strgar, founder of Good Clean Love, said she wished that she'd had a place for her business and access to other entrepreneurs when she was starting out.

So last year when she leased more space for Good Clean Love's headquarters on West Fifth Avenue in Eugene, she remodeled a suite of offices and set up Bloom — a shared work space for women-owned ventures.

Tenants include marketing professional Corinne Hazzard, digital literacy specialist Nicky Tettamanti, life coach Vanessa Truett and nonprofit arts group director Daryll Lynne Evans.

They said they were drawn to the attractive space, which has private offices and a shared reception area with a comfortable couch and chairs, the central location, and affordable price.

Office space at Bloom starts at $250 a month.

"We looked at many, many spaces; when we saw this, we jumped at it," said Evans, executive director of Wordcrafters in Eugene, a nonprofit group that offers writing classes and organizes local writing festivals.

"For us, it was really important that we had a presence," Evans said. "We wanted to be downtown and in a location where people could find us.

"The bonus is it's focused on women and women's business."

An inclusive and supportive community is budding in the space, business owners said.

"For me, the most important thing (about Bloom) is inclusion because I'm a transgender woman, and coming with that there are places where I don't feel safe," said Nicky Tettamanti, who provides individualized computer and digital training to clients.

Tettamanti said Bloom has provided her with a base to work with clients, instead of having to meet with them in libraries or coffee shops.

Hazzard — Bloom's first tenant — said she has enjoyed interacting with Tettamanti and other office mates, and she looks forward to more opportunities to help and support each other.

Drawing on her background as a paralegal and later working at a Chicago advertising firm, Hazzard provides marketing and business development services to small law firms in the Pacific Northwest.

She founded her business two years ago and brought it with her when she and her husband moved to Eugene last year.

Hazzard said she was going stir crazy in her home office and needed to get out into the community.

"It's really hard to work by yourself day in and day out and not go a little bonkers," she said.

Resources for local entrepreneurs are increasing, but Hazzard said she hasn't found anything geared to solo professionals.

The Fertilab incubator and RAIN (Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network) business accelerator are tailored to businesses that will grow rapidly and create jobs.

Lane Community College's Small Business Development Center offers useful classes, but there's a need for ongoing networking and sharing after those classes end, she said.

At the same time, Hazzard said, a lot of people (are) going solo — particularly in Eugene where the job market is small.

Most of the networking at Bloom has been informal, Hazzard said.

She said she and a previous tenant, a graphics artist who recently moved to Denver, were able to lend each other a hand.

The graphics artist was working on a print publication and having trouble organizing the pieces, so Hazzard said she offered some guidance. She said the graphics artist, who had run a business for 20 years, gave her all kinds of useful advice, such as how to keep receipts for Oregon taxes.

Truett, a life coach, recently moved into the vacated space at Bloom. Truett said she applies strategic planning skills she learned in nonprofit management to help clients develop strategic plans for their personal lives.

Truett had been sharing an office elsewhere in town and with the nature of her work, she needed a private office.

"I really like the idea of a women's business network," Truett said.

"Most of my life before this was either starting nonprofits or creating organizations from the grassroots level, so I am excited to see what (Bloom) becomes," she said. "I would love this to be a (place) where women from all walks of life feel comfortable utilizing this space for their own endeavors."

By SHERRI BURI MCDONALD, The Register-Guard. 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Gayly - 3/20/2016 @ 11:51 a.m. CST