"Technology helps disabled work"

Ryan Burnett is an Internet success story.

     Born with cerebral palsy, Burnett, 28, of Houma, has a job he could never have held just a few years ago, mainly because the job didn't exist.
     Burnett works for the Able Disabled Programming Group, LLC (ADPG), a one-stop, full-service Internet and Web development company.  The difference with ADPG is the effort company founder Rand Nini has made to hire people who cannot work outside their homes because of disabilities.
     Nini believes technology has allowed individuals with disabilities to compete in the job market.
     "We have people with disabilities working out of their homes in five parishes with their own adaptive computer equipment.  These are people who are too disabled to actually get out into the work place, and that's what makes them so unique," Nini said.
     "I felt I needed to do something, because these are very intelligent people regardless of any handicap they may have."
     ADPG's main office is based near Morgan City in Berwick, LA.  Two others work with Nini in that office; the rest, like Burnett, work out of their homes.  These independent subcontractors have received free training in Web site development from ADPG.
     "We went out and found these very intelligent and gifted people, trained them and found work for them.  Now we have been in business for 1-1/4 years," said Nini.
     Nini credits his idea for the company to his sister, who had polio as a child.  "I grew up being around a handicapped person.   My sister is furiously independent.  She went out and got her BS CT(ASCP) and she has been my inspiration for this."
     Most of the subcontractors had previous computer experience, but their experience was mainly self-taught, according to Nini.  After training, they are not bound to work for ADPG but most do because ADPG helps them find work.
     Mary Cavalier, 35, of Assumption Parish, is another ADPG subcontractor.
     Because of a back and neck injury, working at home for Rand Nini has been a huge convenience and a pleasure," she said.  "Also, working for ADPG has helped us in the area of finances.  I look forward to working from my home computer again."
     Once a company hires ADPG to create a Web page or perform some other Internet service, the central office distributes the different elements of the project to different people depending upon their abilities.  Information, documents and graphics are transmitted to them via the Internet.  When they have finished their assignment they e-mail the completed project back to the main office where it is reviewed for quality.  Each subcontractor then receives pay from the base price of the service.
     Unlike many organizations that employ people with disabilities, ADPG is a for-profit company.
     "We are not nonprofit.  We are not a government agency, nor do we receive any government grants.  This is something else that is unique about our philosophy, in that we want to prove that the handicapped can work successfully with a for-profit company and be an important part of that company's success," said Nini.
      "We have a full range of services.  Anything any other Internet service can do, we can do.  This includes hosting Web sites, ISP (Internet Service Provider) connections in major markets, creating new Web sites and enhancing preexisting sites," Nini said.  "One advantage that we have, however, is that because we have low overhead we can offer competitive pricing and, in addition, one single bill for multiple services.
     ADPG often advises individuals with disabilities, who are interested in this kind of work, on what type of equipment to obtain and always will conduct an interview with the person.
     For Burnett, who has been with the company since the summer of 1997, the job is a perfect match.
     "They expect the job you do to be correct and I give 100 percent on every job I do," he said.  "I really enjoy working for ADPG.   I plan on working for them for a long time."
 
     E-mail ADPG

(The telephone interviews for this article were conducted in late 1998.  The article was not published until the issue shown above.) 

"Our people are very creative....."

Getting a job in the business world is tough.  Just ask Stacey Labat.

     A lifelong Thibodaux resident, Stacey earned two business degrees including an M.B.A., from Nicholls State University.  Academically armed, Stacey hoped for the best.

Photo by Karey Boudreaux/BAYOU
BUSINESS REVIEW

     She got the worst.
     Letters and resumes were sent out but rarely acknowledged.   The few interviews she went on were dead ends.  Either the job offer wasn't extended or a lower-level job was offered.
     "I looked good on paper," Stacey said, "but when I showed up for the interview, I could see the looks on their faces.  I could tell they weren't interested."
     Stacey Labat is a paraplegic.  A spinal cord injury left her paralyzed from the waist down.  She gets around in a wheelchair.  And there lies the problem.
     The wheelchair turns employers off," Stacey said.  "My legs don't work, but that's the only thing physically wrong with me.
     My brain works, and my arms work.  But getting past that wheelchair is tough."
     Stacey is with the Able Disabled Programming Group, LLC.   ADPG's focus is finding work for their family of people with disabilities.   ADPG is a one-stop, full-service Internet and Web development company; their personnel can do any type of computer-based and computer-related work.
     "But we'll consider any type of work we can get," Stacey added. "We'll take on any thing a business wants to throw at us and if we can't do it, we'll tell them.  All we ask is a chance to try."
     "Our individuals with disabilities work out of their own homes, on their own adaptive equipment."  Stacey said, "Our people are very creative. If you're in a wheelchair, you learn to be creative.  But I'm amazed at how well our people are able to take an idea and expand it and do things with it that I didn't expect them to do."
     "Our goal as a company is to benefit employers by providing computer services they need and help disabled persons get work."
     With personnel in five area parishes (including Terrebonne and Lafourche), ADPG is soliciting local businesses for possible work opportunities.   Stacey often makes speeches and meets with business leaders in her job as sales and marketing coordinator.  
"Everybody has something to overcome," Stacey said.  "We are able to do different things, just like everyone else."
     "We need the able-bodied community to give us work.  Just give us a chance."