Couple starts Web site for disability equipment exchange

From The AP:

AURORA, Minn. ― The beginnings of Ed and Rebecca Addy's new business can be traced to last March when their disabled son found it difficult to find good information on wheelchairs on the Web.

The couple, originally from the Twin Cities, started up HandiExchange.com, a Web-based business offering free listings of equipment and services for people with disabilities that went online recently.

Buying equipment such as customized wheelchairs brand new "can cost you some serious money," said Ed Addy, co-owner along with his wife, Rebecca. New wheelchairs can run from $500 for a basic one to up to $28,000 for a customized one that can climb stairs sideways with the user on it.

Listings are free at http://www.handiexchange.com/ and serve a useful and needed purpose, because such sites on the Internet are very few, Addy said. "We connect the person that's looking for it to the person that's selling it," he added.

Categories on HandiExchange.com include used equipment like wheelchairs and walkers, real estate, services such as home helpers, and wheelchair-accessible vehicles or scooters. Pediatric chairs may be outgrown, and parents may be looking for a bigger used one or selling the old one, Addy explained.

"The idea is to keep all this used stuff in circulation," as well as to save money for users, he said.Persons locating the Web site can sign in and create a free account, starting with a login and password. Users follow the prompts to a list of items for sale or wanted that can be viewed, edited or profiled.

For instance, if a part-time caregiver is needed to come to assist someone, the years of experience, hours available and miles to drive could be requested online. Transactions are between two parties; the site provides the Web site only.

Ed Addy said he attended the Medical Trade Expo recently in Atlanta and received good feedback. Some medical suppliers see his business as helpful to them for listing and moving used equipment.

Sometimes products are listed where their use expires soon, such as catheters, in which case a supply can be purchased at deep discounts.

Even with the economy contracting lately, Ed Addy sees lots of potential online. "Because of the source we're offering, there's probably more of a demand when it's tighter than when it's looser," he said.It isn't the first time the Addys have started a business. Ed Addy has been a computer programmer. He and his wife ran their own computer consulting and design service in the Twin Cities for 13 years.

During the Desert Shield and Gulf War in 1990-91, they started the "Desert Voices" project via radio, which allowed service members to talk to families and friends back home.

The Addys came up on the Range, where Ed Addy worked at LTV Steel Mining as a programmer for 18 months before the plant closed in early 2001. They took some refresher courses at Mesabi Range Community & Technical College and started Northern Visual Services in 2002, selling it to several of their employees earlier this year.

HandiExchange.com will make revenue from advertisers on their Web site. They plan to start adding staff as business builds, including customer service, sales, accounting and programming. Rebecca will handle the financial side, while Ed will take care of hands-on and design matters.

Their son, Jason Lindahl, 36, who was injured in a diving accident as a teen, will also be working for the company, Ed Addy said.