Crain's Chicago Business

November 11, 2002

Disabled seek cut of contracts

City certification program to help level  playing field

November 11, 2002 By Lorna Collier

Twelve years ago, Tom Prinske's Elmhurst-based produce distribution
business was in deep trouble.

He had become legally blind because of a genetic disease also affecting
his partner in the business, his uncle Tom Castro. Mr. Prinske could no
longer drive delivery trucks or easily manage day-to-day operations.
Customers were leaving and the business appeared headed for failure.

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Then, Mr. Prinske says, he had a dream one night, which persuaded him to
turn his blindness into an asset, rather than a liability.

He began lobbying state legislators to provide disabled business owners
with the same minority business certification awarded to women and ethnic
minorities.

As a result, Mr. Prinske's business, T. Castro Produce Inc., found itself
with a new slate of potential customers, eager to fulfill minority
procurement goals.

The company was able to expand, jumping from about $200,000 in annual
sales in 1991 to $6 million today.

"What (the minority certification) did was open up doors," says Mr.
Prinske.

What it didn't do was drop business into his lap with no effort or work
required.

"You still needed to bring product and service in at fair market value,"
he says. As customers realized his company could handle their jobs at a
reasonable price, repeat business came his way.

This fall, Chicago is seeking to echo the state program, creating a
minority certification program for business people with disabilities and
encouraging the awarding of city contracts to them.

A city ordinance introducing the program is expected by yearend.

David Hanson, commissioner of the Mayor's Office for People With
Disabilities, says the ordinance won't specify a percentage goal for
disabled contracts, as it does for minority- or women-owned businesses.

"If we do our job right by creating opportunities, we won't need to put a
number on it," Mr. Hanson says.

Reversing 65% jobless rate

Instead, he says, the city will work to increase opportunities by
creating a database of certified disabled-owned businesses, which will be
available to procurement officers from the city of Chicago and other
municipal agencies, as well as private business.

The ordinance is part of a comprehensive city plan aimed at reversing the
65% unemployment rate among people with disabilities, Mr. Hanson says.

In October, Mayor Richard M. Daley created a public-private task force
also charged with this goal. The task force and Mr. Hanson's office are
working to correct a variety of accessibility obstacles, as well as
discriminatory attitudes, facing people with disabilities in Chicago.

For many business owners with disabilities, the changes can't come too
soon.

"I don't like to say I've been discriminated against, yet I would
probably be a much larger firm at this point, if there wasn't some of
that," says Jim Panebianco, president of Panebianco Design Inc., a
20-year-old graphic design firm.

He suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, a form of muscular dystrophy,
for which he uses a wheelchair. The disease also affects his speech and
the ability to work with his hands.

"Many times, when you're developing a business, you do a lot of
networking, but it's difficult when you're sitting in a chair when
everyone else is standing," says Mr. Panebianco, citing one example of
the type of difficulties he encounters.

Brad Saul, another Chicago businessman who uses a wheelchair, has faced
what he calls "insidious discrimination " since being diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis in 1991.

Still, he has run three enterprises: Matrix Media Inc., a radio
syndication company; the Radio Center for the Disabled, which trains
people with disabilities to work in radio, and Chicago Disability
Transit, which is working to increase handicapped-accessible
transportation in the Chicago area.

Defusing discrimination

Mr. Saul believes the city ordinance will help give disabled business
people a chance to "even the playing field."

"This kind of discrimination will be defused if the city were to
recognize business owners with disabilities," says Mr. Saul. "It might
encourage people who otherwise might not be able to make the leap into
the business world."

Jim Kesteloot, president of the Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are
Blind or Visually Impaired, says people with disabilities desperately
need jobs, but "a lot of times, because they have a disability, people
giving the contract think the people can't deliver, which is not the
truth."

Mr. Kesteloot says the city's plans to create business procurement
preferences - as well as other efforts - to help people with disabilities
should be celebrated.

"I don't know any other city in the nation that has given it a priority
like this and is actually doing something about it," he says.

Nature photographer David Farber of Carpentersville, a quadriplegic after
a motorcycle accident 21 years ago, appreciates the city and state
procurement initiatives, but doesn't want to attract customers strictly
to meet a quota.

"I do not want anyone to buy my work because of a quota system, or
because it's 'good for someone who is disabled.' I only want my work
purchased because of its excellent quality," says Mr. Farber, a former
engineer who takes pictures of birds, animals and nature with a variety
of self-devised modifications to his camera and wheelchair.

On the other hand, Mr. Farber says he experiences obstacles as a disabled
small businessman, including Medicaid restrictions on his income and a
lack of funds to promote his business.

"Although I do not want my work purchased just because I'm disabled, some
government assistance, if it would help me get the word out and or get
more exposure, would be greatly appreciated," says Mr. Farber.

He jokes: "Every time I try to get my foot in the door, my wheels get
caught on the threshold."

Resources

Chicago Mayor's Office for People With Disabilities: The City Council is
considering a procurement program for businesses owned by people with
disabilities. More information is available from senior policy analyst
Laurie Dittman at (312) 744-4495.

Business Enterprise Program for Minorities, Females and Persons With
Disabilities: Illinois has set a goal of 19% of state contracts to be
awarded to certified businesses owned by minorities, women and people
with disabilities. For information, call (312) 814-4190 or visit
www.state.il.us/cms/purchase/BEP. A free workshop explaining the
program's certification process will be held Nov. 20 from 11:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. at the James R. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph St., Suite
9-031.

Minority, Women and Disabled Participation Loan Program: The Illinois
Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, through the Participation
Loan Program, provides subordinated small business loans for up to 50% of
the total amount of a project, up to $50,000, to disabled business
owners. For information, visit www.commerce.state.il.us/bus/plp.html or
call (312) 814-8534.

Small Business Assistance for Veterans: The federal government, including
the Veterans Affairs Department ( www.va.gov/vetbiz) and the U.S. Small
Business Administration ( www.sba.gov/vets), offers a variety of programs
for veterans with disabilities. Service-disabled veterans who own
businesses can register their companies with the SBA at
www.pro-net.sba.gov/index2.html. For an overview of services, vis it the
Assn. for Service Disabled Veterans at www.asdv.org. The SBA does not
have programs or loans specifically earmarked for businesses owned by
people with disabilities, but it does provide resources to anyone seeking
to start a small business. Contact the SBA in Illinois at (312) 353-4528.


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