TecAccess: Modeling Solutions

By Joan Leotta

Image TecAccess founder and president Debra Ruh, with daughter Sara.

TecAccess Founder and President, Debra Ruh with daughter Sara. “My inspiration was my beautiful daughter, Sara, who has Downs syndrome...When Sara entered middle school, I was told that her employment opportunities were bleak. It was when someone suggested that Sara collect shopping carts at a local grocery store, or work in a sheltered workshop environment, that my entrepreneurial instincts kicked into overdrive.”

Is it possible to run a successful business, employ mostly people with disabilities, and in so doing possibly benefit the US economy? The multi-million dollar IT and personnel solutions company TecAccess (www.tecaccess.net) tries to do just that. By providing accessible technology programs, disability employment services, and marketing solutions on an outsource basis, TecAccess has become a financial success. By employing persons with disabilities ranging from mild to severe, the company models equal employment for all abilities. And by allowing disabled technology pros to stay in their accessible homes to get their work done, the firm eases the burden of retrofitting office buildings for disability access while still including employees with disabilities in the workforce.

Now employing more than 60 associates with disabilities, TecAccess dispatches staff members to work with private firms, government agencies, and educational institutions to make their Web sites and information technology products accessible. The company helps organizations make their software meet W3C Internet standards and comply with Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for government entities. Services include testing and assessment, training, engineering, policy review, and consulting.

Paul Spicer, the firm's senior vice president of marketing, says, “We utilize a one-of-a-kind telecommuting model that allows employees—many of whom have disabilities ranging from cognitive to physical disabilities—to work from their homes, rehab facilities, and hospital rooms.”

H aving so many people with disabilities on staff, including military veterans, gives the company the capability to realistically evaluate accessibility and compliance technology. This insider's view also helps the company be well versed in employment solutions from the perspective of the target audience: people with disabilities.

Solving workplace problems

TecAccess has found solutions that assist companies in the public and private sector, including educational institutions, as they set out to hire people with disabilities or market products and ideas to the disability community. The firm's newest endeavor, Disabled Veterans Training (DVet), prepares veterans with disabilities to work in high-paying career fields. Says Spicer, “We are currently partnering with leading organizations to train veterans with disabilities across the country.” Launched in 2006, the DVet initiative is the first program of its kind in the nation.

Consumer electronics giant Circuit City also recently hired TecAccess make their Web presence, CircuitCity.com, more accessible, especially to people with severe disabilities. In a testimonial on TecAccess's Web site, Circuit City's Senior Vice President Dennis J. Bowman notes: “At Circuit City we believe that it is not only our responsibility as a corporate leader to make sure that our website is accessible, but that it makes good business sense to capture a valuable market segment.”

The founder's inspiration

Image of TecAccess marketing analyst Ed Ziegler

Ed Ziegler, a TecAccess marketing analyst. “Working gives value to a person.” By contributing to a larger project, being employed can help anyone build self-esteem.

Established in 2001 as a home-based industry, the company 's own experience proves that people with disabilities can have excellent attendance records, a great work ethic, and strong loyalty to their employers.

Founder and President, Debra Ruh has more than 20 years' experience creating technology and distance learning solutions for financial companies and other industry leaders. She applied that knowledge to form her Richmond-based company that would, among other things, help fill the void created when Baby Boomers leave the workplace with underemployed people with disabilities.

But it wasn't her business sense alone that led Ruh to founding her own company. “My inspiration was my beautiful daughter, Sara, who has Downs syndrome,” says Ruh. “When Sara entered middle school, I was told that her employment opportunities were bleak. It was when someone suggested that Sara collect shopping carts at a local grocery store, or work in a sheltered workshop environment, that my entrepreneurial instincts kicked into overdrive.”

Making a difference

TecAccess not only creates opportunities for client entities but also makes a diference in its employees' lives. Ed Ziegler, a TecAccess marketing analyst who is himself disabled, notes that, “working gives value to a person.” By contributing to a larger project, being employed can help anyone build self-esteem. The experience of TecAccess employee Rose Musacchio reinforces this notion.

Musacchio, a senior-level TecAccess manager, cannot use her hands or speak. She communicates using a head pointer to navigate her computer. Working from her home, Musacchio is the lead on the DVet program.

Says Musacchio, “Since I can't talk, walk, or use my hands for my personal care needs, I have depended on others for help all of my life. While I have made them feel needed, I rarely have felt needed. Trainees and associates of the DVet Program have made me feel otherwise. When a trainee tells me, ‘You really helped me; thanks!' my face beams. I have a sense of accomplishment for the day.

“I want to tell everyone,” Musacchio continues, “especially those who have treated me as if I was retarded because I cannot talk, ‘Hey, a veteran thanked me for helping him.'”

A non-disabled employee, Cathy McKean, agrees that employment can lead to a more positive self-image. Recently divorced after a 20-year marriage, she was a displaced housewife and had, she says, “such low self-esteem that I felt no one would want to hire me.” But TecAccess tested her skills, liked what they saw, and brought her on board.

Says McKean, “TecAccess taught me how to respect myself again because they had respect for me.” She adds, “TecAccess is a family. TecAccess truly cares about its employees. TecAccess always goes the extra mile for its employees. TecAccess has never once lost its vision or mandate.”

Speakers Bureau

Image of TecAccess employee Rose Musacchio

TecAccess employee Rose Musacchio is the lead on the DVet program. “Since I can't talk, walk, or use my hands for my personal care needs, I have depended on others for help all of my life. While I have made them feel needed, I rarely have felt needed. Trainees and associates of the DVet Program have made me feel otherwise. When a trainee tells me, ‘You really helped me; thanks!' my face beams. I have a sense of accomplishment for the day. "

In addition to providing its core services, TecAccess provides a Speakers' Bureau uniquely tied to its mission. Presentors include experts in disability advocacy as well as business leaders. Recent keynote speeches have discussed targeting customers with disabilities, improving brand awareness and customer loyalty, and reaping the return on investment of hiring people with disabilities. Founder Ruh's daughter Sara is a featured member of the TecAccess Speakers' list.

Spicer notes that the firm's speakers routinely travel the globe, offering presentations in Tunisia, Peru, Spain and, recently, before members of the European Union. “Our talented roster of speakers,” says Spicer, works toward goals of “creating results for the audience and building a culture of success for organizations tapping into the talented disability workforce.”

TecAccess speakers often inadvertently help to change the way people with disabilities view themselves. Marketing analyst Zieglar, who is also on the keynote speaker list, says, “It's a huge benefit to others with disaiblities to show that I can do my job with only relatively minor inexpensive accommodations.”

Zieglar, whose disabilities occurred due to an accident, adds, “What about those with newly acquired disabilities? How often do all of us quit because things are different, harder, and more difficult to do?” He goes on to note that flexibility is key to adapting to the new situation and praises TecAccess for giving him the tools needed to translate his positive attitude and skills into real achievements.

Living the company vision

Featured on major news networks and in US News & World Report, TecAccess has received numerous honors in its short existence, including many that recognize leadership among small, disadvantaged, or woman-owned businesses. Perhaps most prestigious is the company's recent US Department of Labor Presidential New Freedom Initiative (NFI) Award.

Says Spicer, “Whatever the type of work environment, we like to remind businesses and organizations of one thing: people with disabilities are the largest untapped workforce—as well as spending, buying, and voting power—in the world. We stress that employees with disabilities represent an opportunity to recruit and hire from an untapped and highly qualified labor pool.”

Reiterating her original vision, Ruh says, “I knew that Sara, and millions like her, could do much more. Today, my dream has become a reality in the creation of TecAccess. As TecAccess has grown, so has Sara. She has become a talented professional speaker. Proudly displaying her business card that reads, ‘inspiration,' she addresses crowds of 500-plus and shares with them her dreams, inspiring others to advocate for people with disabilities and improvements in the workforce.”

Edited by Mary-Louise Piner.